Silver Fox
by As the cherry blossom falls
Summary: A little Silver Fox will change their lives. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto. I just own this plot and story. Date 30/11/06**_

Hinata sat at her window, staring out at the beautiful spring day. Anyone would have felt happy and at peace watching the cherry blossoms, but not Hinata. She sighed for the umpteenth time that day and pushed back her chair. She walked over to her table and picked up something. It was a picture that had been taken a little over 2 ½ years ago of her and all her friends. Running her finger over the figure in the middle of the picture, she whispered something.

"Naruto-kun…" she said so softly, almost unintelligible to the ear. It had become quite a habit for her to stare at this picture day in, day out.

She stared at his face a little longer when she remembered that she had to meet Shino and Kiba for training. Sighing once again, she placed the picture back on her table and went to walk out of the room.

At the door she turned once more and looked at the photo.

"Naruto-kun…please be safe." she said, and if you had been listening, you would have heard her voice break as if her heart would break of it was not true.

With that, she was gone, leaving a lone cherry blossom petal to fall to the ground.

As Hinata walked through the streets of Konoha, her spirits started to lift slightly. It was hard not to feel happy when she saw the children playing, reminding her of when she was very young, before she had to train everyday in preparation for her being the heiress of the Hyuga Clan.

She frowned ever so slightly, hoping that these children would never have to go through what she had.

'But then,' she thought ', there isn't another Clan around that is a harsh as the Hyuga.'

She was about to turn a corner when a voice made her stop dead.

'No. It can't be' she thought 'I must be dreaming.' So she peeked round the corner to confirm that it was in fact a dream.

What she saw made her jump back round the corner in surprise and nervousness.

'I can't believe he's back! Oh my god! What do I do! What do I do!!'

But before she had anytime to formulate a plan, a certain blond head poked its way round the corner and stared her right in the face.

He was saying something but it was already falling on deaf ears, since all Hinata could hear was the blood rushing to her head. Then it all went black.

But before she fell unconscious, she had one more thought.

'Naruto-kun looks so good!'

While Hinata was dreaming happily on the ground, Naruto was very confused.

Why had she fainted?

Was she ill? Was she under some sort of Genjutsu? Had she been attacked?

At this thought, Naruto immediately assumed a defensive stance.

"ALRIGHT! COME OUT SO I CAN SEE YOU! COME AND FIGHT ME!!!" he shouted at no-one in particular, while jumping about like an idiot.

Meanwhile Kiba, Shino and Akamaru just stared at the almost pantomime-esque scene that had just played out in front of them.

"I can't believe she fainted," Kiba said disparagingly

"Hm" replied Shino.

"I mean, she hasn't fainted once in over 2 years"

"Hm"

Sigh "Well I suppose we should go pick her up and take her to training"

Kiba started to walk forward but Shino grabbed his wrist in a death like grip. Kiba turned to protest but Shino had his finger to his mouth telling him to be quiet. Shino then pointed in the direction of the training areas.

Kiba smiled mischievously. It was the perfect plan. He sniggered quietly before the two of them sped off leaving Naruto still dancing around looking for his 'attacker'.

Naruto sensed the other two leave and turned round to look where they had been standing before. To his dismay, he was right. He then looked down at Hinata on the ground.

'Oh man! What am I supposed to do?" he thought alarmed. "I don't know how to look after a girl!'

He bent down onto his haunches and looked closely. She had changed while he had gone, he observed. Her hair was longer and she had lost the puppy fat she had on her face. In fact, he bent even closer, she had become quite beautiful.

Just then Hinata opened her eyes and on seeing Naruto inches in front of her, she did the only thing that came to mind.

She punched him.

Naruto flew across the street, hit two bins, rolled off them and slid on an old banana skin, hurtling him headfirst into the wall. Where he promptly fell to the ground in a daze.

Hinata clasped her mouth in horror. She had hit him instinctively, as she had been trained to do. But this was horrifying! She had hit her crush! Right across the street! Into a wall!

Hinata scrambled to her feet and rushed over to help Naruto up. He was trying to get up but had been a bit stunned so Hinata offered her hand to him, which he graciously accepted. She forced to keep her blush at bay when she realised he was holding her hand and let it drop once he was up.

Naruto grinned widely and scratched the back of his head with one hand.

"That was some punch Hinata! You must have gotten a lot stronger in the past couple of years!"

"Y-Y-Yes Naruto-kun. I've been training hard. I-I-In fact, I am already late for my training session. Goodbye Naruto-kun ….and gomen!" She turned round and fled in the direction of the training area, leaving a very stunned Naruto in her wake.

"Weird!" he said to no-one in particular, but he couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face.

Things were certainly interesting now he was back. He turned to walk away but stopped.

There was something on the ground. He bent down and picked it up to examine it more closely. It looked like a little brooch; it was a pretty silver fox with ruby red eyes.

'It must be Hinata's" he thought "I'll give this back to her later. But first, RAMEN!"

And off he sped towards his favourite ramen hangout.

Little did he know that this little silver fox would have a very significant effect on his life.

_A.N. – Well what do you think??? It's my first story in ages and it's my first Naruto story so please let me know what's right and what's wrong! Thank you!_


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto. I just own this plot. Date 01/12/06

Naruto was so happy to be back in Konoha. He had been back for a month now but hadn't seen his friends, apart from Sakura, since their first meetings.

In fact, he was starting to miss them.

It had just turned dark, so the streets were still busy and all the shops were still open for business. As he walked down the street, he felt around in his pocket. His hand came in contact with the silver brooch and he ran his finger over the smooth surface.

He had been meaning to give it back to Hinata for ages, but he just hadn't gotten round to it. He really was going to have to make an effort though.

'I mean, she has probably been looking for this for weeks now."

So when he spotted Kiba and Akamaru walking towards him, he decided to take some action.

"OI! BAKA!" shouted Naruto, even though Kiba was 2 metres in front of him.

Kiba grimaced, while Akamaru whined at the piercing voice.

"What do you want, Naruto? And make it quick would you? Akamaru and I have a hair appointment"

"A hair appointment? Why does your dog need a hair appointment?" Naruto said narrowing his eyes and looking confused, bending down so he was face to face with Akamaru "Is it gay?"

Kiba pulled him back just in time for Naruto to see Akamaru snap at the air that had once been his head.

"BAKA! You're lucky I saved you or you'd have no head anymore! Now what the hell did you want?" Kiba said infuriated as he threw Naruto on the ground.

Naruto grinned up at Kiba while he scratched the back of his head.

"I just wanted to know if you knew where Hinata was?"

Kiba frowned at Naruto and folded his arms. He liked Naruto, but Hinata was special to him. He considered Naruto for a second then decided that he really was a good guy.

"Well, last I saw her was at the training area. As it was late, Shino and I left her there to continue her training. But I wouldn't ………HEY!" Kiba tried to shout to Naruto, but it was too late, Naruto had already run down half the street before Kiba had finished.

'Oh well,' he smirked to himself, 'He's gonna get the biggest surprise of his life!'

"Come on Akamaru! Can't be late for our hair cuts!"

With that he jumped onto Akamaru's back and sped off down the street.

As Naruto ran towards the training area, he thought about Hinata. What had she been to him before he left?

To be honest, he hadn't even noticed her till the Chunin exams. He felt a little bad about that, since he was always going on about recognition and there he was, completely ignoring someone.

Ero-sennin might be a complete pervert but he had taught him a lot of things over the past 2 ½ years. Especially that everyone deserves to be recognised for what they have done, no matter how small.

Before he knew it, he had arrived at the training grounds.

'Now where could she be?' he pondered. It was pretty dark in the training grounds since there were no street lights, but the moon was shining that night so he could see pretty far ahead.

Suddenly he heard someone to the north of him scream. Putting chakra into his feet he sped ahead as fast as he could go.

The trees became one big green blur as he raced to where he had heard the sound.

Unfortunately he was racing too fast to notice Hinata in front of him until it was too late. He could have stopped if it hadn't been for one thing.

Hinata was naked!

Hinata spun to see Naruto hurtling towards her and relied on her instincts once again.

As Naruto came within inches of her she put her fingers lightly on his shoulders and used him to propel her into the air and over him, to land lightly behind him.

Naruto watched this happen in awe, and continued to watch her till she landed behind him.

Big mistake.

He completely lost control of his chakra and realised too late that he was actually standing on a pond.

SPLASH!

He fell right down into the water. When he resurfaced, he noticed that Hinata had put her clothes back on. Just a simple white kimono and sandals. She stood at the edge of the pond and waited for Naruto to pull himself out of the water.

When he had successfully removed himself from the pond and was safely on dry land, Naruto found that he didn't know what to say. For god's sake, he had just seen Hinata naked! It had only been a fleeting glance but the image of Hinata's ample chest would be burnt into his memory forever.

Not that he minded much, he thought.

"NO!" He screamed suddenly, horrified that he had just thought something so perverse, and proceeded to slam his head against the nearest tree trunk. Many times.

He only stopped when a timid little voice interrupted, "Um, Naruto-kun?"

He stopped his self maiming and looked at Hinata. She had her hand up to her mouth and was a most strange shade of red.

"Did you need to ask me something?" she continued, looking embarrassed and perplexed at the same time.

"Uh….uh……uh…….uh…..um…..yeah…….I……uh……I…..I….." he stuttered, before deciding to ask the question that was waiting to leap out,

"Why did you have no clothes on Hinata?!?!" he asked, eyes wide.

Hinata looked away and turned an even darker shade of red.

"Um….I….was….training…." she replied, struggling to get the words out.

Naruto just stared, obviously not understanding.

Hinata knew she would have to explain more.

"Um….uh…I created….a…new fighting style….just for me….and….I …..Uh …..as I practice….I need to have completely unrestricted movement…..so…the easiest way….to do that……is to remove…..my………clothes" she said rather sheepishly.

Naruto continued to stare, then realised that there was a NINJA reason that he could latch onto, that might, just might, lessen the embarrassment slightly for them.

"AH HA HA HA HA!!!!! I SEE!!!!! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK THEN HINATA!!!!" he said rather loudly, with a massive grin on his face.

Hinata was so glad that Naruto wasn't dwelling on the situation and visibly paled to a more natural colour. She even went so far as to giggle.

Crisis averted, Naruto suddenly realised why he had come her in the first place. He reached into his pocket and took out the brooch.

"Oh Hinata, I picked this up the last time I met you and I have been meaning to give it back. So….here," he said, thrusting the brooch towards Hinata.

Hinata looked down at the brooch and stared for a couple of seconds, before looking back up at Naruto again.

"That's not mine, Naruto-kun" she said abruptly.

"Huh?" replied Naruto, eyes wide in confusion, "But I found it after you left!"

"Um it's not mine. I definitely don't recognise it."

Silence.

Naruto looked at the brooch. He looked at Hinata. He looked at the brooch.

"Well consider it a present then!" he looked up at Hinata, grinning.

Hinata was in shock. Was her crush…giving her a present? For her? This is the kind of thing she dreamed of, but she never expected it to happen for real!

She didn't know quite how but she felt herself reach out and take the brooch from Naruto.

He was happy she had accepted it. He felt he owed it to her after their…incident. He smiled at her and turned around, preparing to run off.

But before he did he turned his head to Hinata.

"Thanks Hinata! I'll see you soon. Promise!" and he leaped off into the night.

Hinata still had her arm outstretched, holding the brooch.

She promptly fainted.

_Well? How did that go? Thanks for the reviews guys! It helps to know what you guys liked. And what's so great is that I can see you lot falling off chairs and it makes me laugh so much that I almost fell off mine! Well let me know what you think!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks for all your reviews and here are some replies!_

_Dragonman 180- read on my friend!_

_Raikiri1991- I know, she is pretty hopeless sometimes isn't she!_

_Ruki44- yes I enjoy traumatising my characters, it pleases me!!!_

_Anyway read on!_

_**I do not own Naruto – but I own this plot so keep your grubby mitts off it!!!**_

As Hinata was dreaming happily on the ground, two figures were standing silently in the trees.

They both had masks on to cover their faces and were wearing black all over, including gloves.

"Hm……..that was…….interesting." one man said quietly, staring in the direction that Naruto had just run off in.

"How so?" replied the other man, looking at his partner with questioning eyes.

"….It doesn't matter right now. What matters is that we go back to our leader with the information."

The other man nodded and started off into the trees.

However, his partner stared at the Hyuga lying on the ground. Something strange had happened. They had been watching the girl train when they had heard a scream. The other man had been writing down observations, so he hadn't been watching the girl.

He had though, and she hadn't opened her mouth. In fact, she had been spooked by it herself. So who did scream?

He didn't have the time to think about this now. This would have to wait.

He sped off at speed into the forest, leaving Hinata happily squirming in the grass.

THUMP THUMP THUMP!!

"Ohhhhhhhhhh…." groaned Tsunade.

She had the WORST hangover this morning. But it was worth it. She had the best time out last night. She even got talking to one young Jounin who was very handsome. In fact….

"OBA-CHAN! WHAT DID YOU WANT ME FOR? A MISSION?"

Naruto burst through the door VERY loudly. And if it was loud for us then to Tsunade it was like having a herd of horses trampling her brains into mush.

Naruto found himself wedged into the wall on the other side of the wall, plaster crumbling around him, before he tumbled onto the ground.

Tsunade calmly walked back to her desk and sat down. As she waited for Naruto to recover from his impromptu "trip", she popped a couple of aspirin and washed them down with some sake. Well they do say hair of the dog is the best cure for a hangover.

Naruto stood up and approached Tsunade's desk carefully.

"Um, Tsunade- uh – sama?"

Tsunade lifted her head to look at Naruto and smiled brightly at him.

"Yes Naruto?"

She was weird, thought Naruto. " Uh, I was asked to come see you."

"Yes, I have an assignment for you" she replied brightly.

"Really? Aw great! What is it? S-class? SS- class? Unclassifiable???" Said Naruto excitably, both hands grasping the edge of the desk. He took care to be quiet however. He didn't want a repeat performance of his entrance.

Raising one eyebrow, Tsunade considered the boy. He had changed physically over the years, but inside he was still the same boy. Still brimming with excitement. Still kind. Still thick-headed. But she loved like a little brother anyway. She smiled again before she continued on.

"Not a dangerous mission I'm afraid," on seeing Naruto's face fall she had to stop herself from giggling ", this is just a routine escort to a nearby town. You will join Kurenai's team."

"AWW. Why can't I go with Sakura?" Naruto huffed, crossing his arms and pouting his lips.

"Because Sakura is busy and you are not. Meet Kurenai at 12 at the gates. Now GET OUT!"

Naruto quickly left. He knew it wasn't a good idea to stick around when Tsunade had a hangover.

He made his way home from the tower, watching the people go past him. It wasn't so bad now walking through the streets of Konoha. Now that he had grown, fewer people wanted to confront him. He still got plenty of glares, but he was so used to them that he just ignored them.

Once at home, he packed a small bag with his essentials. Basically, a few extra t-shirts, boxers, and 5 packets of instant Ramen. He had recently discovered a new type of instant ramen that was already cooked. It just needed heated but sometimes he would just eat it cold. Ramen was great all the time. It didn't take him long to pack, so he decided to go and wait for Kurenai and her team at the gate. It was only 11:40am.

He took one last look around the apartment, then walked out, locking the door behind him.

Hinata was so glad the Kurenai had told her about Naruto joining them. It gave her time to prepare herself. Honestly she wasn't half as bad as long as she wasn't surprised. When Naruto surprised her, that was when bad things happened.

She decided to go down to the gates early. Usually she was the first to be there, so she was quite surprised to see that Naruto there already.

'Now come on Hinata', she thought, 'breathe in, breathe out. Calm yourself.'

She walked up to Naruto and smiled.

"Hello Naruto-kun!"

Naruto turned to look at Hinata and smiled broadly. "Hello Hinata! I'll be joining your mission today! I hope you don't mind!"

"Of course not Naruto-kun."

"Great!" he replied. He would have said more, if only he hadn't been knocked over by an overgrown white dog.

"Good one Akamaru! Get him back for what he said yesterday!" shouted Kiba, running up to where Hinata was watching Akamaru sitting on top of Naruto.

Akamaru was wagging his tail happily, then looked up at Kiba.

Kiba knew exactly what Akamaru was saying, " Do it Akamaru!"

Akamaru looked back down at Naruto. Naruto could swear he saw the dog smirk. He knew something bad was gonna happen. He tried to get free but it was hopeless. The dog weighed tonnes. It was also too late.

Akamaru proceeded to fart on Naruto.

"ARRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"

Kiba was rolling about on the ground, trying to keep himself from exploding, he was laughing so much. Hinata just held her hands to her face. She had to admit that it was a little bit funny.

Akamaru stood up and walked over to Kiba proudly.

"Consider this payback for yesterday AND for the Chunin exams!" laughed Kiba, pointing his finger at Naruto.

"Are you quite finished here?"

All three of them looked round in horror. It was Kurenai.

With her were Shino, expressionless as ever, and a very confused young woman.

Kurenai was not impressed.

Hinata stepped forward. "Gomen. They were just play Kurenai-sensei. Please forgive them."

Kurenai sighed. This girl was always apologising for other people.

She looked over at the three culprits but saw that they seemed suitably ashamed for their actions. She decided to drop it, for their sakes and hers.

"This," she gestured at the young woman, who still looked confused, " Is Kokomo Hikari. We shall be escorting her to a town a few miles away. We should only be gone a few hours."

Naruto looked exasperated.

"If the town is only a few miles away, why can't she go herself?"

Kurenai paled. She was speechless at his rudeness.

Thankfully, Shino fielded this question.

"A young woman should never travel alone, Naruto, no matter how short the distance. It is good manners." he replied. He looked to Kurenai, who took this as her cue to continue.

"Shino is right. However, she is also carrying something very precious, so she needs extra protection."

Naruto pondered this for a moment then bowed toward the young woman.

"Gomen, please excuse my rudeness. Now shall we get going? We don't want you out in the forests after dark." he started walking out of Konoha, leaving five people and one dog shocked at his remorse.

He turned round and beckoned for them to follow. This jolted them into action and they started to walk Kurenai taking up the rear.

'How strange he is' thought Kurenai, 'Always full of surprises'

They had been walking for an hour and a half so Kurenai decided that they would take a five minute break so that their client could rest. Not that any of the ninja's needed to rest.

Naruto saw Hinata by herself so decided to go speak to her.

"Hey!" he said smiling.

Hinata looked up and smiled too. "Hello Naruto-kun."

Naruto nervously rubbed the back of his head. " I guess I should apologise for yesterday. I'm sorry I interrupted your training."

Hinata blushed slightly " It's ok Naruto-kun" she replied.

Naruto was glad that she hadn't been annoyed. It would have been awful to have her angry at him.

He looked down at something sparkling in the light.

"I see you're wearing my present!"

Hinata looked down at the brooch pinned to her lilac jacket. "Yes thank you Naruto-kun. It really is beautiful. It gives me something to remember you by." She blushed slightly at her forwardness.

Naruto didn't notice, and if he did, which I doubt, he didn't make a scene of it.

"No problem Hinata!"

He would have continued talking to Hinata, but Kurenai told them it was time to move on.

Naruto gave Hinata a friendly wave and ran up to his position at the front with Kiba.

Hinata walked beside the young woman. She looked down at her brooch and fingered it, brushing her thumb over the ruby eyes. It was a beautiful piece of jewellery.

What was strange was that she never intended to wear the brooch today. She usually never wore jewellery unless it was for ceremonial purposes. But as she went to walk out the door, she felt drawn back to her dressing table. The ruby eyes seem to bore into her, pleading with her to wear it. So she had put it on.

She liked wearing it. It made her happy, as it was a gift from her crush. It also made her feel more confident around him. Like she could do anything if she put her mind to it.

She looked up at Naruto and her friends. She really was lucky to have these important people in her life. She looked down one more time at the brooch.

The red eyes glinted in the light, almost painfully so. But she felt drawn into its eyes, unable to look away. It shone brightly, boring its image into her mind.

If Hinata had looked up she would have noticed that the sun was hidden by a dark cloud.

It could be seen as a sign of things to come.

_Yay. Chapter 3 up. Let me know! Blah blah blah and as such. Thanks for reading!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Well here is the next chapter. I never expected to churn them out at speed, but that's what seems to be happening! Thanks for the favourites guys! I'm so happy (tears up slightly) Well, here we go!_

_Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto. At all. Just this plot. 05/12/06_

………………………………………………………………………………………

"Hinata?"

"Hinata??"

"HINATA!"

Hinata looked up to see Kiba frantically waving his arms in front of her face.

"Huh?" she replied, eloquent as ever.

"We're back at Konoha now. Didn't you notice?" Kiba stared at here, wondering how ditzy she could be.

"Oh, I suppose I was daydreaming." Hinata blushed furiously. How silly could she be?

Kurenai looked at her charge and wondered the exact same thing.

"Well since the mission is over, we should head to Tsunade's office and give our mission report."

Hinata and Shino quietly nodded, while Naruto and Kiba looked pissed that they weren't finished yet. However, one withering look from Shino soon put that to rest.

They walked quietly towards the tower. The mission had gone off without a hitch, though Hinata did admit she was quite distracted throughout the whole journey there and back. She had either spent her time admiring Naruto or admiring her brooch.

In fact, she was so busy admiring her brooch that she didn't notice they had arrived at Tsunade's office until Kiba nudged her from behind. Rather harshly she might add.

"Hello Tsunade, we have come to let you know that the mission was successful and went off without a single hitch." Said Kurenai in a rather professional manner.

Tsunade smiled and nodded, "Well that's good to hear. Since you are here now, I have another mission for you to do."

Naruto jerked upright, always eager to know if this would be that elusive A-class mission.

It was as if Tsunade could read his mind, "No, Naruto. It's not an A-class mission."

Naruto's face fell.

Tsunade continued " It is however, a B-class mission. And I'm sure you all can handle it."

Naruto spoke up, "So it'll be the same team again?"

"Yes, you, Kiba, Akamaru, Shino, Hinata and Kurenai. I trust that's not a problem" Tsunade gave Naruto a look that dared him to say otherwise.

"Eh-heh-heh. Of course not Tsunade-sama!"

Tsunade rolled her eyes before continuing. "So this mission is another escorting mission. You are to escort the head of the Raichou family to a city in the far north-west of the Rock country. You should be gone for at least 2 weeks."

"Raichou," said Shino "The family who own the bank."

"Yes," replied Tsunade, surprised that Shino had spoken. "He will be transporting some valuable items, so you can be sure that you will be ambushed at some point"

Naruto grinned broadly and gave the thumbs up, "We can take them oba-chan! Don't worry."

Unfortunately for Naruto, he had just said the wrong thing, though he didn't realise until he hit the wall on the other side of the room, nose streaming with blood.

Hinata looked horrified, whilst the others looked merely amused. He had it coming.

They all turned back to Tsunade who was smiling sweetly as if she hadn't just punched someone clear across the room.

"I shall give Kurenai the mission file, so you kids can run along now."

Kurenai turned round to her team, "I shall meet you at the gates at 7am sharp."

They all nodded, except for an unconscious Naruto who was being hauled out by Kiba.

Naruto eventually gained consciousness outside the tower, with three faces and one dog looking down at him.

"Naruto no baka!" exclaimed Kiba, "When will you learn!"

Naruto grinned, rubbing the back of his head, for once to try and stop the throbbing headache.

Kiba just sighed, "Well, see you tomorrow baka." He jumped onto Akamaru and galloped off down the street.

Shino merely nodded and disappeared off into the shadows.

Hinata offered her hand to help him up and Naruto graciously accepted it.

Once he was up, Hinata blushed, realising she had just held Naruto's hand. She let it drop.

She was about to walk away when Naruto interrupted.

"Hey if you don't have anywhere to be, do you wanna get some ramen with me?"

Hinata was speechless.

Was. This. A. DATE?

Naruto continued, "Since we will be going on a longer mission, I suppose I should get to know you a little better before we go."

Hinata's heart sunk. She should have known it was only mission related. But, she decided to accept anyway. Sure, wasn't time with Naruto still time with Naruto? Even if he felt he had to.

"Sure. Why not." She replied.

"Great! Lets go!" he led the way in front of her, looking back to make sure she was following.

Hinata hurried along to walk beside him.

They walked in companionable silence for a few minutes, before Naruto decided to talk.

"So how has your training gone these past few years, Hinata?" he asked, tuning his head to look at her.

"Well, I've trained a lot with my father to improve my Jyuuken technique. But I have also been refining my own personal technique which I started creating after the first round of Chunin exams."

Naruto looked at her in amazement, "Wow Hinata! You've created a whole new technique?"

Hinata nodded shyly.

"That's really amazing, Hinata! I could never create a brand new technique, I don't have the brains to do that!"

"You shouldn't put yourself down, Naruto! You're and amazing fighter and you never give up!" Hinata said enthusiastically, surprising herself at her boldness and directness. She hadn't thought, it had all just blurted out her mouth.

It seemed Naruto was stunned too.

"Uh, thanks Hinata!" he replied, a little embarrassed but also a little pleased that there was someone who thought that of him.

He was so caught up, that he didn't notice when they almost walked past Ichiraku's. He only noticed when Hinata stopped outside while he continued to walk on.

"Um……Naruto?" Hinata asked, confused.

Naruto noticed his stupid mistake and tried to laugh it off.

"HA HA HA HA! Lets get some ramen then!" he almost shouted.

He ran past Hinata into the shack and Hinata could already hear him loudly ordering two big bowls of ramen.

Hinata smiled to herself. This mission was going to be fun!

………………………………………………………………………………………...

They spent the next couple of hours chatting about this, that and the other and a lot about how Naruto was going to get revenge on Kiba and Akamaru.

Hinata was having such a great time, but she knew if she didn't leave soon, then she would never be able to get up in the morning.

Reluctantly, she left Naruto to order his 15th and final bowl of ramen, and started on her walk home.

As she walked, she gazed into the ruby red eyes of her brooch, again amazed at how beautiful they were. If she had been paying attention she would have noticed the man trailing her along the rooftops.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

"Urghhhhhh!!!" moaned Naruto.

He slammed his hand on top of his alarm clock to shut it up, and moved it so he could see the time.

6:30am

"Urrgghhhh!" moaned Naruto, again. Well, at least he didn't have to rush to get packed.

In a rare moment of organisation, he had prepared his pack last night. He had also left the next days outfit out for him to put on in the morning. So, at least all he had to do now was take a shower and leave.

He stumbled out of bed and peeled off his pyjamas as he went. When you live on your own, you don't need to think about what other people will think. Like this morning, he didn't have to worry about anyone seeing him naked. Well, ever since he learnt to close the curtains.

On the other side of town, Hinata had already been up for an hour. She was now warming up so that she wouldn't pull a muscle.

She had such a strange dream last night.

Usually she dreamt of Naruto, and that was fine by her. But last night she dreamt about having dinner with four people she didn't know. They were all talking over one another, telling her how great she was, how strong she was and how much stronger she would get. It was all pretty overwhelming.

But it had been over soon enough and then she went back to her favourite dream where Naruto proposed to her.

She finished her warm up and collected her pack. As she walked past the gate she waved to her father. He nodded in acknowledgement and smiled. Things had gotten so much better in the past few years. Her father was beginning to respect her more, although they still weren't normal.

As she approached the gates she wasn't surprised to she was the first there. It was only 6:50am. She set down her pack and sat down on the ground to wait.

She didn't have long to wait. Naruto came bounding up three minutes later.

"Hey Hinata! Did you sleep well? 'Cause we're gonna need all our energy for this mission today!"

Hinata giggled and nodded her head, "Yes Naruto-kun, I slept very well."

Kiba and Shino arrived at that moment, just before Kurenai arrived with their client.

"Good morning everyone. Glad to see you here early. This is our client Raichou Kicho."

"Ohayougozaimas." (Good Morning) they all said formally, since this was one important man!

The man just nodded in acknowledgement, already annoying Naruto.

Raichou turned to Kurenai, "Shall we be on our way then?"

Kurenai nodded, then turned to her group. " Hinata, you go up front with Naruto. Shino you go to the left. Kiba and Akamaru, you go to the right, I shall take up the rear. Now lets move off."

Hinata was so glad she got to be with Naruto for the whole day! She turned to look at him and saw him looking at her, grinning broadly.

"Come on, lets get moving!" he exclaimed, walking on without her.

Hinata collected herself and moved to beside Naruto.

Every now and then she would scan the area around them with their Byakugan, but there was never anything to warrant their attention. Absolutely no-one was around.

She could hear Kiba talking to Akamaru and Akamaru barking back. It was strange the way Kiba knew what Akamaru was saying. It was cute though!

Naruto was thinking the exact same thing, except he thought it was downright creepy.

He had been friendly with Kiba for years, though he could never call him a close friend. An acquaintance would probably describe their relationship better.

He would bunk off practice with Kiba, Shikamaru and Choji and just watch the clouds with them. Sometimes he would be left alone with Kiba, since Shikamaru and Choji were best friends.

Naruto remembered one time, just before the academy tests, when Kiba told him something secret.

He confessed his love for Hinata. Naruto was surprised but didn't mention that he felt the same way about Sakura.

Kiba told him about how he had liked her for years, about how kind she was and of course how beautiful she was.

Naruto couldn't see how he could like someone like Hinata. She was just that shy, dark, weird person who was always blushing. He hardly ever noticed her, though now he wasn't surprised, since Sakura made practically EVERYONE notice her.

Naruto looked at Hinata out of the corner of his eye. You certainly couldn't miss her now. In the past few years, she had become a bit more outgoing. He had seen her over that past few weeks, around town with Shino and Kiba. She would laugh and joke with her team-mates and looked a lot more confident. However, she wasn't like that with him.

He wondered why?

'**Ha ha ha ha, baka!"**

Naruto sighed inwardly, 'Shut up Kyuubi, I'm thinking!'

'**Hmmm, I can see!"**

Naruto sighed inwardly again, but Kyuubi seemed to have shut up.

Naruto looked once again at Hinata, yes, she had blossomed. Her hair was much nicer longer and she had a very pretty face. His gaze followed down to the brooch pinned to her chest. The brooch he gave her…

'**You certainly couldn't miss those, they're HUGE!' **snorted Kyuubi

"AARRRGGHHHH!" screamed Naruto at having such a perverted thought, even if it wasn't from him. He lost his balance and fell to the ground.

He looked behind him and saw four people staring at him.

"Uhhhhhh…….bee! It was a bee!" and as if to prove what he was saying was true, he waved his arms around like a mad man.

Hinata looked worried, Kiba looked exasperated, Kurenai looked bewildered, Raichou looked stunned and Shino just raised one eyebrow.

"Heh heh!" Naruto laughed half heartedly, getting up.

Kurenai rubbed her temples, trying to get rid of the headache that was forming.

This was going to be one long mission.

_Hey! All done with that chappie. Let me know what you think. Good or Bad….just not toooo bad…..please?? Thanks all!!!_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto. I own this story and plot. Enjoy!**_

"We'll stop here tonight." Kurenai told the group as they stood outside an opulent looking hotel.

Kiba and Naruto stood there with their mouths gaping, while Hinata and Shino looked impassive.

It was Naruto that asked the question that was on all their minds. "How are we going to afford this place?"

"You don't pay for it. That's how." replied Raichou, speaking for one of the few times throughout the day. With that, he proceeded to walk into the hotel.

Naruto was still confused. He felt Shino's hand on his shoulder and turned round to look at him. Shino was pointing at something on the building.

Naruto squinted his eyes in concentration and followed Shino's line of sight.

There on the front of the building, was a massive sign bearing the name '**Raichou**'.

"The family who own the bank, also own a chain of hotels across the country." Shino mentioned, matter of factly.

Naruto felt so dumb. How could he have missed the HUGE sign! He hunched his shoulders and walked into the building, Shino, Kiba, Hinata and Kurenai behind him.

When they entered the lobby, they saw Raichou at the reception desk. They walked over to him and waited while he organised some rooms for them all.

"HEY! You can't bring that DOG in here!!!" shouted some clerk, running over to them.

Kiba tensed and took a defensive position. Akamaru wasn't just some dog, he was Kiba's best friend.

Raichou stepped in between Kiba and the clerk, "I think you will find that it is quite alright." He fixed the clerk with a frosty stare, making him back off apologetically.

"Thank you." grinned Kiba to the older man, but he was already making his way back to the reception desk.

After five minutes, Kurenai came back with the room keys, "It's a bit busy tonight so we will have to share. Hinata will share with me. Kiba, Akamaru and Naruto will share and Shino will have his own room."

Both Kiba and Naruto stared at Shino, "How come he gets his own room???" yelled Kiba.

Kurenai grinned and patted Akamaru on the head, "I thought he deserved a break from you Kiba…" she started walking towards the elevator with Hinata, leaving two dumbstruck teenagers behind her. "We will meet down here at 6:30am. Goodnight boys!" she said just as the elevator doors closed.

Hmph, Naruto thought, he couldn't be sure, but he thought that he had just seen Hinata giggling just as the doors closed.

The two boys turned to look at each other with glares, but dropped them quickly, too tired to keep up the aggression.

Wearily the two boys made their way to the room. Naruto chose the bed closest to the window and Akamaru chose to sleep right in between the two beds.

It didn't take too long for the boys to get ready for bed, and before long the light was out and they both settled down to sleep.

Naruto was finding it hard to fall asleep. It was probably just the excitement of the mission, he thought to himself.

"Naruto?" he heard Kiba say to him.

"Naruto?" he said again, "Are you awake?"

"No." replied Naruto. Wrong answer, he thought as he felt a pillow slam into the back of his head.

Naruto sighed and turned over to face Kiba. Akamaru was already asleep and twitching his legs like he was running after something, probably a missing nin.

"What is it?" Naruto asked, it being just too late for insults.

"Um," Kiba stammered, "Uh, what do you think of Hinata?"

What a weird question, Naruto thought. "Well she's cool. I think she's gonna go far if she only believed in herself."

Kiba sighed, " No, I mean…what do you think of her. As in, do you like her?"

"Yeah, sure I like her." replied Naruto, totally not grasping Kiba's point.

Kiba slammed his hand into his forehead, that boy could be so dumb.

"No, I mean…Would you like to be her boyfriend?" asked Kiba quietly.

"What!!" Naruto was stunned, this wasn't what he was expecting.

"Well, do you?" probed Kiba.

Naruto lay back, he was about to say no, but something had made him stop. He had never really thought of Hinata in that way before. But now that he thought of it…

"I don't know, Kiba." Naruto replied.

Kiba, also being dumb, mistook Naruto's answer for a no.

"Well that's good, 'cause I was thinking of asking Hinata out. I've like her for ages now! She's so beautiful, and graceful! I'd love to go out with her. I just wanted to make sure you didn't like her too. Can't have any competition, though compared to me you're no competition…" Kiba trailed off, realising that Naruto was quiet. He thought Naruto must have fallen asleep so went to sleep himself.

But Naruto was awake. Wide awake in fact. He had never thought of anyone but Sakura in that way before. But he had gotten over Sakura ages ago, she was just a friend. But Hinata, there was something different there. Now that the train of thought had been put in his mind…….NO. He couldn't think like that. Kiba was going to ask Hinata out. So that was that.

Naruto turned over and fell asleep, to dream of being lost in a pearly ocean, but feeling happy.

………………………………………………………………………………………...

Hinata woke up when Kurenai shook her on the shoulder.

"Wakey wakey!"

Hinata stretched a little before getting out of bed and having a shower. They went downstairs and had breakfast then waited for the boys. Shino came down around the same time as them, while Naruto, Kiba and Akamaru came racing down at 6:25am, proceeding to shovel some breakfast in themselves before they had to leave.

At 6:30 they were all ready to leave, including Raichou, who arrived exactly on time.

They walked for miles that day, and the next day. Each night they would sleep in another one of Raichou's hotels, each one as luxurious as the last.

Then on the 4th day they reached the border.

They looked at one another.

Kurenai was the first to speak.

"Right. From now on we will travelling under a Genjutsu. To any civilians we will look like a family travelling. But if we meet any Ninja it might not hold, so you need to stay alert the whole time. We will travel as quick as we can go, and I want you all to form a diamond formation around Raichou. I will bring up the rear and hold up the illusion. It should take us about 3 more days to reach our destination. We will sleep in the forests between 4am and 8am, we will be less likely to be attacked at those early hours. I want you to be focused and alert at all times. This is a very dangerous country. Have you all got that?"

They all nodded in agreement, including Raichou. This was the time to be serious now.

"Ok." said Kurenai, "Give me one second…" she performed some hand seals, "Right, let's move out!"

And so they continued on past the border and into unknown territory.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

They had been travelling for hours now. It had become dark long ago, now the moon was high up in the sky, providing a little light for them to walk by.

Kurenai looked at them all and then at her surroundings.

"We will stop here for the next few hours. We will each take an hour shift to look out. I will take the first shift. Hinata, please have a look at the surrounding area."

Hinata nodded and activated her bloodline. She scanned the surrounding area for a few minutes then deactivated. "Nothing sensei. It's all clear."

Kurenai nodded. She turned to the rest of them. "Roll out your sleeping mats. We will have no time to set up tents, and if we are attacked, I would like to be able to move out as quick as we can."

With that, she went and sat down in the middle of the clearing. The others took this as a cue to set out their mats and go to sleep. The waited till Raichou had set up his mat, then positioned themselves in a diamond formation around him.

Naruto lay down on his mat and pulled the blanket over himself. He turned his head to the side and could see Hinata. She had already fallen asleep and was absently stroking the brooch he had given her.

He smiled, glad that she was happy with his gift.

He turned over to the other side. He couldn't sleep though, he felt uncomfortable.

It felt like….being…..watched!

He half sat up in bed, frantically searching around him. Though he felt nothing more.

He looked over at Kurenai and felt himself calm. She didn't look like she had felt a presence, and she was a much better ninja than himself. He scolded himself for being so silly and settled down to sleep.

It didn't take long for sleep to claim him.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Hinata was woken by Kurenai and told to take her shift, then to wake Shino. Hinata nodded and sat up, stretching her arms.

She gave a little yawn and then had a look round using her Byakugan.

Nothing out of the ordinary. Good.

Gosh this was boring.

Usually she didn't mind being watchman, but tonight she felt restless. Like she had so much energy inside her that needed released.

She decided to get up and do some exercises, quietly. The last thing she wanted was to wake everyone up.

She started with some stretches and went on to do some basic fight moves.

Something felt different tonight. In fact, she had been feeling different for a while. Her style had been steadily improving for the past week.

She smiled to herself, 'must be all my practising' she thought to herself.

'Front Kick, Side Kick, Right Punch, Left Punch.' she repeated in her head.

With each repetition, she felt more graceful, yet more powerful. She had never felt better.

She wanted to practice more, but now it was time for Shino's shift.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

"Naruto? Naruuuuto?" said the brunette seductively in front of Naruto.

"Huh huh huh huh huuuuh…." Drooled Naruto as the brunette started to unbutton her….

"NARUTO!!!!! WAKE UUUUUP!"

"ARRRGGGHH!" screamed Naruto, suddenly awake.

Kiba was staring angrily down at Naruto, "I have been trying to wake you up for 5 minutes!"

Naruto yawned and sat up, now too preoccupied with his hair to listen to Kiba.

Kiba slumped, "Why do I bother…" he mumbled as he shuffled his way to his sleeping mat to pack up.

They were all ready to leave, noticed Naruto. Lucky he still had his clothes on from last night. All he had to do now was roll up his sleeping mat.

"Naruto-kun?"

Naruto smiled and turned around, what a nice voice to hear in the mornings, so pleasant.

"Yes Hinata?" he grinned broadly at her, putting his hands behind his head.

Hinata looked away and blushed heavily.

What was wrong with her? She hadn't blushed in a while, he thought she had got over that. He also noticed that she was holding her breath.

"Naruto-kun, you might like to um…..use…this." she handed something to him.

He took it from her and looked at it.

He paled. It was a natural deodorant bar. That must mean….HE STANK!

How embarrassing, and in front of Hinata.

"Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata, concerned that Naruto had still not looked up from his hand.

Naruto looked at Hinata again, "Heh, thanks Hinata. I…I…I…thanks…" was all he could say.

Hinata smiled and backed away to leave him in privacy.

Naruto sank to the ground and put his head down on his knees.

Life was a bitch.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Why did he always get into embarrassing situations, Naruto thought to himself.

'Why? Did I do something wrong in a previous life?'

He glanced over to Hinata, watching her talk to Kiba.

Now that Naruto knew how Kiba felt about Hinata, he felt so dumb that he hadn't seen it before.

The way he smiled at her when she laughed, the way he tensed if she got within a few centimetres of him. All the signs were there. Why hadn't he seen them before.

"I see you've noticed."

"Huh?" Naruto said, looking round to see that Shino had just spoken to him.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

Shino nodded his head towards Kiba, " You've noticed that Kiba has feelings towards Hinata."

Naruto looked at Kiba and back to Shino. " Kiba told me a few nights ago. I never knew. How long?"

Shino looked back to Kiba and Hinata again. "A while now. I would say a few years."

"WHAT?" shouted Naruto.

Everyone turned to look at Naruto, confused. He smiled and rubbed the back of his head, pretending that he hadn't just screamed out loud.

Raichou looked at Naruto, then Kurenai, who gave him an apologetic smile.

Once they had all resumed there travel, Naruto whispered to Shino. "When did you find out?"

"Me? Oh the first day our team was formed. I could tell Kiba liked Hinata, even though he didn't even realise it yet. I knew he would eventually end up loving her."

"Love?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. I do believe he loves her." Shino glanced at Naruto, noticing that he looked distracted.

"Does Hinata know?" asked Naruto.

"No." replied Shino.

"You know Shino, Kiba told me he was going to ask Hinata out soon. Do you think…" Naruto started to ask, when Shino interrupted.

"No, she won't go out with him. Ever."

"Why?"

"Because Kiba is a friend to her, and," Shino glanced at Naruto from behind his glasses "she loves someone else."

Naruto was shocked. Hinata loved someone?

"Who is it?" he asked

Shino shook his head. "It is not my place to tell. I hope you understand."

Naruto smiled gently, "Of course I understand. You can't break her confidence. No worries."

Shino smiled ever so slightly. I knew you would understand….LOOK OUT!"

Shino knocked Naruto down to the ground just in time to see a barrage of kunai whiz past where Naruto's head had been.

They tumbled to the ground, picking themselves up quickly and surrounding Raichou.

Hinata surveyed the area quickly. "I see two figures, Kurenai-sensei. But they are moving extremely fast. Faster than anyone I've seen. Even Lee."

Naruto was worried. Lee was one of the fastest ninja in Konoha. That was with his leg weights on. Once removed, he was unbeatable. If these guys were fast even with Hinata's Byakugan, then they were serious trouble.

" Hinata, Kiba, Akamaru. Surround Raichou. Keep him safe." Kurenai shouted to them. All three nodded and moved into position.

"Shino? Where…" She didn't need to finish her sentence.

Two figures in huge cloaks emerged from the bushes beside them.

"Well hello there. What do we have here. A Genjutsu? Well you must be ninja then." One said.

"That's fantastic. Because, you know what?" The other figure reached up and pulled down his hood revealing a scored forehead protector.

"So are we…"

**_Sorry this took so long. Got uber-busy and then it was Xmas. Well the next instalment won't be until the new year. I'm off to visit my boyfriend until the 6th so after that you will get your next chappie!_**


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto_

Kurenai stiffened. This was not good. She had no idea who these men were. She couldn't tell what hidden village they were from, their forehead protectors had been scored through so much. But whoever they were, they felt powerful.

"Pleased to meet you." said the ninja who had just removed his hood. His face was very scarred; it looked like he must have been badly burnt some time ago.

"Let me introduce myself and my associate. My name is Ichi and this is Ni." (One and Two)

'How original…' thought Naruto.

"Now, I don't suppose you will give us what we want willingly…" Ichi scanned the group, noting that their facial expression seemed to convey that fact. "What a pity. I would suggest you think fast then." Both men disappeared into thin air.

Kurenai wondered where they had gone when she felt something extremely close to her face. With lightning quick speed she bent backwards and twisted on her hand so she was out of the way of his attack. She had just missed Ichi try to take off her head with a strange hand weapon. He then proceeded to disappear, with no chakra trace.

'How did that happen? I couldn't even sense him! Where is his chakra signature? We felt it before but now they've completely concealed it. No-one should be able to do that.' Kurenai was worried. She might not be able to handle this on her own.

"Shino. Emergency plan A." she barked over to Shino. He nodded and threw their previously compiled plan into action. He called in his information gathering bugs that he had planted on the men from the beginning. While he was listening to his bugs, he deflected a barrage of small kunai aimed at him.

'No.' he thought, 'Those were aimed at my bugs. That means they know I'm a bug user. No surprise attacks then."

He finished listening to his bugs and relayed their message to Kurenai.

"Strong. One Water user and one Fire user." Shino repeated. "We need help."

"Ok, come up here Naruto. Kiba, search them out."

Naruto smiled. This was gonna be good. He had been itching to get in on the action.

Naruto ran up to her side. Kurenai leant over and whispered into his ear.

"When he comes out, keep him occupied."

Kurenai sank back to Hinata, whispering to her to take care of Raichou. Hinata nodded and kept alert.

Just then Ichi and Ni came out of nowhere. Ichi ran at Naruto and aimed for his neck with the strange hand weapon. Naruto had just enough time to move millimetres from the blades and flipped backwards onto his feet again. He knew he had to get that weapon out of the mans hand.

Ichi span round and aimed to punch with the weapon at Naruto. In a surprise move, Naruto let the man come in extremely close before moving sideways slightly and bringing his knee up into the ninja's forearm, causing him to drop the weapon in pain.

Naruto quickly kicked the weapon over to Kiba, who had just arrived back. Kiba snatched the weapon up and climbed onto Akamaru, galloping out of the clearing to hide the weapon.

Naruto grinned at Ichi, "Fight me then."

Ichi grinned back, "All right …" He started towards Naruto when it suddenly turned black and became freezing.

"Oh come on, another Genjutsu? I know you are one of the best Kurenai, but you will not win this one!" Without any movement or sound, he broke out of the Genjutsu.

Kurenai was shocked. That Genjutsu was formed to be the strongest. It should have held him. And he had broken out of it without a single movement or word. His colleague was not so fortunate. He was still trapped in the Genjutsu and looked like he would not be leaving soon.

What was worse was that she had only had time to get Hinata, Raichou and Shino hidden. Naruto was still out in plain view.

Naruto looked at Ichi worriedly. The guy looked even angrier now.

Naruto decided it was time for his signature move.

"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" He shouted, creating ten bunshins. All ten ran at Ichi from all directions. But Ichi was very powerful; he quickly formed the necessary seals and created ten fire strikes that wiped out Naruto's bunshins in an instant.

In Naruto's distracted moment Ichi ran at him and was within striking distance.

Naruto braced himself for impact.

"NO!" screamed Hinata and was out of the bushes so fast that she crushed them. She ran up behind Naruto and stepped onto his back, causing him to bend over and fall to the ground.

She grabbed Ichi's shoulder and used it to flip over his head. As she was coming round the other side she concentrated a huge amount of chakra into her index finger and ran it down Ichi's back from the nape of his neck to the middle of his back. She then tucked and rolled over to a standing position.

Ichi's face blanked and his eyes glazed over. He fell slowly to his knees, then keeled over onto his side.

There was silence. All that could be heard was birdsong and the wind rustling the leaves.

Hinata stood there breathing heavily. She looked at Naruto, who was staring at Hinata.

He was in shock. He had never seen her fight like this before.

Kurenai came out of the bushes with Shino and Kiba. They all stared at Hinata for a moment. Kurenai then moved to check Ichi, while Shino and Kiba went to check Ni.

Kurenai felt his neck and found no pulse. She looked on the back of his neck and found an angry red mark almost like a burn. She looked back up at Hinata.

"It looks like you shut down his Central Nervous System. He's dead."

"This one is brain-dead" shouted over Shino. Ni had had his brain destroyed by Kurenai's Genjutsu. Kurenai was glad it had worked on at least one of them.

She looked over and saw that Naruto was still staring at Hinata.

To be honest they were all feeling shocked. Hinata had never demonstrated power even close to today. She had taken out a high class missing-nin in one go. And one pretty brutal and painful go.

Naruto stood up and faced Hinata, "You saved me…"

Hinata waited.

"…wow…Thanks!" He grinned and hugged Hinata vigorously.

Hinata looked shocked, but started to smile.

Naruto held her at arms length. "Thanks again!"

It was all Hinata could do to just nod.

Naruto then let go and went over to Kurenai and talked animatedly to her.

It was only Raichou who saw Hinata look towards the body and watched her smile fade. He watched her face pale and her eyes sadden in the horror of what she had done.

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It was now two hours after the ambush. Kurenai had sent word of the attack and the result to Tsunade via one of Naruto's summoned frogs. She had left the task of disposing of the bodies to Shino, and no doubt, his bugs had a hand in it. Raichou was sitting on a mat, meditating. Naruto and Kiba were talking about what they did today, trying to out do each other. Naruto was waving his arms about in the air, almost whacking Kiba in the face. Kurenai counted down from three, and was not surprised when Kiba started throttling Naruto on Zero. She shook her head and left them to it. As she looked around she saw that Hinata was not with the group. She decided to have a walk in the surrounding forest and look for Hinata.

It didn't take long for Kurenai to find Hinata sat next to a small stream. She had her arms wrapped round her legs and was staring quietly at the water.

Kurenai sat down quietly next to Hinata.

She glanced sideways at her, "You did very well today Hinata."

Hinata didn't respond.

"You saved us."

Hinata still didn't respond.

Kurenai spoke softly, "You saved Naruto."

Hinata's head sank ever so slightly and a tear fell down her face.

"I…I…thought he was going to die. I just jumped up and ran. I don't know why I did it. I felt this huge… rage inside and I knew I had to do something." She stared up at the sky.

"But…But…I…Killed him…I killed him." She shouted, weeping unashamedly now. Her shoulders shook with sobs.

Kurenai moved over and took Hinata into her arms. Hinata clung to Kurenai and sobbed uncontrollably, repeating over and over, "I killed him….I killed him…".

Kurenai could understand why Hinata was upset. This was the first time Hinata had killed someone in close quarters. But sadly, this time came for every ninja. It wasn't pleasant but it had to happen. Hinata was still sobbing, even though she could cry no more.

Kurenai just held onto Hinata, she knew that it would pass, but for now Hinata needed a shoulder to cry on.

As Kurenai comforted Hinata, she noticed a familiar chakra signature slip away into the forest, quiet as a mouse.

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Naruto slumped against the bottom of a tree trunk. He had seen Kurenai walk into the forest and knew she was going to find Hinata. He decided he would follow and speak to Hinata too. But something had made him stay in the bushes.

He put his head in his hands. Hinata had saved his life. He knew that. But it was only sinking in now how close he had been to dying. If Hinata hadn't attacked then, his head would have been sliced off.

And those moves. He had only seen her move like that once before, the time he thought she had been in danger. But this time she had been so fast. Faster than anyone he knew. Even Lee.

He sighed deeply. This was awful, Hinata was crying her eyes out because of something she had to do to save him. He had to make it up to her.

Naruto took his head out of his hands and looked up to the sky through the branches. So peaceful. Such a lie.

He picked himself up off the ground and walked back towards the campsite, brushing his hair back to try and make himself look presentable.

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Some hours later the group were getting ready to go to sleep. Naruto had the first shift for two hours, then Shino, Kiba and finally Kurenai. Kurenai had decided to let Hinata sleep through the night, she definitely needed the sleep.

Naruto set up his mat and watched while Shino, Kiba and Akamaru and Raichou settled down to sleep. He saw Kurenai talk quietly with Hinata before she walked over to her own mat to sleep.

One by one they all dropped off and he noticed that Hinata was the last one to fall asleep. Peaceful now, he sat silently concentrating on the surroundings.

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It was calm inside Hinata's dream. She was glad, after having such a horrible day. When she was ever stressed, Hinata would go to the gardens in the Hyuuga compound, and sit for hours on end. Now Hinata found herself there in her dream.

She walked along under the Cherry Blossoms, breathing in the flowery scent in the air. Her she could smile.

"_Peaceful, isn't it._"

Hinata smiled, then frowned. She didn't think that just then.

"_The Cherry Blossoms are so beautiful._"

Hinata turned around to see if there was anyone behind her, but saw no-one. What was happening? She turned around again and saw something that shocked her to the core.

"_Hello Hinata dear." _

"Mother! " Hinata whispered, glued to the spot before she ran into her mother's open arms.

"_You did well today Hinata._" Hinata's mother said softly, as she stroked Hinata's hair.

Hinata looked up to her mother's face with a worried look. "_But I killed a man._"

Hinata's mother smiled. _"But it needed to be done my dear. He would have killed you if you hadn't killed him first. And you were so strong! I'm so proud of you Hinata!"_

Hinata smiled and put her head against her mother again. "I'm so happy you think so!"

"_Don't be afraid to use the power you have inside you again. You can be so much stronger Hinata."_

"Really?"

"_Of course. Remember, don't be afraid to use your power," Hinata's mother pushed her to arm's length then started to back away._

"Mother!!!" Hinata tried to reach out but her arms wouldn't move.

"_Remember, you can let go if you want. Just let it all out."_

"Mother…" Hinata whispered sadly looking down to the ground.

As Hinata's mother faded away, you would think you might have been mistaken for seeing her eyes narrow and the corners of her mouth turn up.

Hinata felt the garden disappear as she fell into a deeper sleep.

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Naruto sighed again as he turned around and saw Hinata smile briefly. At least she could be happy in her dream, he thought.

_Well that's this chapter done. Now pay attention below._

_I had sooooo much grief with this word. I thought I would try and look up and see what the Japanese is for Mother. I thought it was Kaa-san as you seem to hear that all the time in Naruto when someone talks about their own mother. But nooooo…It seems that Okasan is the word for SOMEONE elses mother and the word for your own mother is Haha. I kid you not. So I decided to write it in bloody English and if you don't like it then you can bloody well bugger off and write a new Japanese language. I'm soooooo confused!!!!!! _

_Thanks for reviews, I love you all for enjoying my story! I hope to get the next one up soon!_


	7. Chapter 7

Hinata was up bright and early, just before everyone else woke up. She took that chance to take a little walk to clear her mind, and by the time she came back, everyone had just about finished packing up.

"Come on now Hinata, it's not like you to be late getting packed up." Teased Kurenai.

But instead of a hushed 'Gomen' which was what they all expected, Hinata beamed,

"I know! Silly me! I must not have woken up fully yet!" she grinned and went about packing up quickly.

Everyone was surprised, but didn't think about it for too long. Except Kurenai, who felt that something was off.

She shook her head. This could wait, they were nearing the end of their mission so they needed to be alert.

"Right, let's move out. Shino and Kiba out front, Raichou behind with Naruto and Hinata, and I'll take up the rear. Got it?"

They all nodded and went on their way.

Kiba talked animatedly at the front, while Shino and Akamaru listened patiently. Hinata smiled at the spectacle in front of her, and counted herself lucky for having a team she cared so much about.

"Miss Hyuuga?"

Hinata turned her head to the side, puzzled. She saw Raichou looking down at her and realized he was the one who had just addressed her.

She blushed, "Oh, sorry, what would you like to say?" she asked politely.

"I would like to say Thank You for your brave actions yesterday."

Hinata turned a deeper shade, "Oh it was really nothing…"

Raichou smiled slightly, "Don't be so modest, it was a commendable act of bravery. I think the rumours I heard about you are very wrong. I can see no weakness in any part of your character, and I would be honoured to be watched over by you anytime." He smiled gently, then walked off in front of her, leaving her with her thoughts.

Hinata was stunned. She had just been commended by her respected elder, something that had never happened before. She felt like she was in a daze, until she was nudged from the side.

It was Naruto, "He's right Hinata. You were incredibly brave, and you saved my life. I'm really grateful, I'll pay you back someday but till then, thank you." He smiled at her, and today, Hinata felt like smiling back.

"My pleasure, Naruto-kun." She said with a smile, before turning her head to look at the sky.

Naruto was happy. No, Contented was the word. The people he cared about were happy and nothing felt like it could go wrong.

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Several hours later 

The scenery hadn't changed much and Hinata felt slightly bored. Not that she was slacking, she took her role seriously and was always thinking about the mission.

_Not like Kiba, _she thought.

Where did that come from? She didn't usually think this way about her team-mates. She looked ahead and saw Kiba fiddling with something in his pack, so distracted that he almost tripped up over a rock. Hinata frowned, _He should have been paying attention, he better pull himself together_. She may not think this way all the time, but this time she felt herself agreeing with her thoughts.

Actually, Kiba had been slacking the last few missions they had been on. It was unfair that the rest of the team had to do more work because of him. Hinata felt a little knob of resentment start to build in her chest, but was suddenly distracted by Naruto's call to them.

They all looked to see what the commotion was about and couldn't hold back their laughs when they saw what he was doing.

"What are you doing, Naruto?" Kiba asked through his giggles.

"I'm stroking a cat, what does it look like dumbass!" Naruto explained indignantly, while bent down and stroking the animal.

Kiba couldn't hold it in any longer and exploded into fits of laughter. Even Raichou raised an amused smile.

Hinata took it upon herself to explain, "Ano, Naruto?"

Naruto smiled up at her expectantly.

"That's a Skunk."

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"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SOONER!" Naruto was shouting from the water.

"Because I thought you'd know it was a skunk. Any dumbass would know!" Kiba replied with a hint of smugness.

They had had to take a detour to a stream so Naruto could wash himself. Just after Hinata explained that he was not stroking a cat, the skunk chose that moment to spray all over Naruto.

He was not happy.

Hinata had given him some tomato sauce that she hadn't used for cooking as she had heard that tomato was great for getting out skunk smells, so currently there was one half naked blond boy in a stream with tomato in his hair and one sour look on his face.

Kurenai was annoyed. Because of Naruto they were now delayed by half a day. It was already dark so she decided they would just camp beside the stream for the night.

She strolled over to Raichou to explain what was happening and didn't expect he react the way he did.

"Don't worry. I don't mind waiting a little longer. You have all proven yourselves to be excellent Ninja so I know I am in good hands. If you don't mind, I am just going to take some time to meditate." He bowed slightly and left a stunned Kurenai standing there.

Hinata silently laughed to herself. Who knew a mission could be so fun? She strolled over to the waters edge and sat down on a rock.

"How do you smell now?" she asked Naruto, who was vigourously scrubbing his hair with the tomato sauce.

He looked up and gave her his trademark grin, "A little better. Thanks for the tomato sauce, It's really working!"

Hinata smiled back at him, "Well we can't have you stinking out the camp, so wash up well," she remarked, jumping up before continuing, "or I'll have to come in there and scrub you myself!" and with her last remark she bounded of into the camp to talk to Shino.

"…"

Naruto stood still in the water, mouth open in disbelief.

"Wha…Whe…Where the hell did THAT come from?"

_- Oooo, anyone else seeing Hinata change before our eyes? Sorry I haven't updated in a looooooooooooooooooong time! Been so busy and then writers block kicks in. But now I should be able to finish my story so hold on tight!_


	8. Chapter 8

The middle of the night 

Hinata was in the middle of her shift as look-out and was thinking to herself. She was sitting on her mat cross-legged, hands in her lap, periodically activating her Byakugan to check for intruders.

She sighed. Nothing. No one around for miles.

"Sigh…", she looked at her watch. Two hours to go.

"How bored am I…" she thought annoyingly.

Looking up into the sky, a cloud was crossing the moon and making it slightly darker out.

As she brought her gaze down again, she caught a glance of her brooch and smiled. Taking it off her jacket, she twirled it in her hands. It was so nice, the silver really was a fine quality. As she held it, she felt it getting warmer, making her feel cozy inside. She clipped it back onto her jacket and stared out again at her teammates.

She frowned.

Kiba was snoring. That boy really couldn't do anything right. He was a sorry excuse for a shinobi, she really didn't know why she hadn't realized before.

Beside Kiba lay Shino, the strange boy that he was. She thought she had got to know him better throughout their years as a team but it seemed like she had only scratched the surface. It was starting to annoy her that he was so quiet and secretive, like he didn't trust them. Well if he was going to be so secretive, then she wouldn't trust him so easily from now on.

Kurenai lay further away from them, closer to their client. She had been a good teacher, but maybe Hinata didn't need Kurenai's guidance for much longer. I've got to move on to a better teacher, she thought. Someone who doesn't baby me and will let me release my powerful potential.

Hinata's eyes darted over to the side. She had spotted something.

But it was only Naruto, turning over in his sleep. Now Naruto, he was powerful. With her Byakugan she could see he was different to the others. A very interesting boy, one that she would always be watching, both out admiration and intrigue.

The moonlight glinted off her brooch. She gazed down at it, Really, she thought, I must be careful about who I can trust.

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Naruto was dreaming of ramen. Not just any ramen, but extra special ramen in a huge bowl the size of a swimming pool.

"Mmmmm! Raaaa-meeeen!" he sang, happily swimming and eating his way through ramen.

Then some soya started poking him in the head. It was getting more persistent until…

"Naruto. Wake UP!"

"Huh?"

Opening his eyes he saw Hinata poking him in the head. She looked tired. He wondered why for a second…

"OH! My shift!", he sat up suddenly, startling Hinata and making her fall off her knees.

"Oh, whoops, sorry," he grinned sheepishly as he helped her stand.

Hinata just smiled and made her way to her mat.

"Only a few more hours left so stay awake Naruto, ok?" she grinned and winked at him.

'This is so weird of Hinata', thought Naruto, but he smiled fondly at her back as it retreated from him.

"Night Hinata!" he waved, as she settled down to sleep.

Looking around the camp, Naruto decided to go back to his mat to keep a lookout. Stretching his arms and back muscles, he strolled back to his mat and gave a cursory look around the edges of the camp to look for signs of intruders, but of course found none.

'Ugh…soo boring! I hate look-out shifts." Thought Naruto grudgingly. So he fished some string out of his bag and proceeded to tangle his fingers together in a Naruto version of Cats Cradle.

"Just a little this way… and thaaat way…."

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Two figures watched from trees near the camp. They were clad all in black and had rubbed face paint into their faces to camouflage themselves.

The both looked at each other as they watched Naruto tangle his fingers hopelessly.

One nodded his head and the other nodded in reply. The first figure released the pin from a canister and released it from his hands. It hung still in the air until the figure blew it towards the center of camp. It landed gently behind Naruto and started to emit a pale coloured gas. Naruto only noticed when it was too late and the gas engulfed him. It continued unabated to cover the whole camp. The gas hung in the air for ten seconds then started to disperse, giving the figures a clear view of the camp. It had been a success. Everyone was still asleep, and Naruto was slumped over, out cold.

They nodded again. The jumped out of the trees and landed beside Naruto, only glancing at him before they jumped over to Hinata. They tied her hands and feet, then one figure slung her over his shoulder, before they both disappeared from camp.

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It was so dark. Naruto felt like he had been encased in sludge, he could hardly move and he couldn't see anything. Then he saw a pinprick of light ahead. He tried to swim towards it but it was taking so long to get to, until…

"Unh!" he gasped as he sat up abruptly. His eyes were wild. They had been ambushed! He had only noticed the gas when it was too late and was putting him under. He searched the camp with his eyes, everyone was still asleep, the sun only just coming up.

Bouncing off the ground he ran to Kurenai and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her.

"KURENAI-SENSEI! KURENAI-SENSEI!" he shouted, his face worried.

She stirred, opening her eyes slowly, "Wha-, what's wrong Naruto?" She tried to sit up too fast but pain shot through her head. Grabbing her head, she turned her eyes to Naruto.

"What happened!"

"We were ambushed! We were all gassed and put under."

Kurenai's pupils widened, she sat up slowly and scanned the camp.

"No!" she gasped in horror.

"What is it..", he looked in the direction of her gaze.

Hinata's mat was empty.

Naruto paled. She was gone, kidnapped.

Kurenai grabbed his shoulder, making him look back at her.

"Wake the others. Shino first, try and have him locate her, incase she just wandered off, but I highly doubt that."

Naruto didn't need to be told twice. He bounded over to Shino and shook him awake. Shino groggily opened his eyes and looked at Naruto in confusion.

"Hinata's gone. Is she near?" Naruto asked. Shino could see the worry in Narrator's eyes and knew there was no time to waste.

He sat up and closed his eyes. A few black specks flew at great speed away from him, and it felt like an eternity to Naruto when they arrived back thirty seconds later.

Shino opened his eyes and looked up, "She can't be found near here."

Naruto's heart sped up, this was bad. As he ran back to Kurenai, Shino shook Kiba and Raichou awake.

"She's not here Kurenai-sensei, what do we do?" he asked, his brow furrowed in worry.

Kurenai stood up and closed her eyes in thought, forming a plan.

Opening her eyes again, she focused on Naruto.

"Pack up Hinata and your belongings. Kiba," she shouted over to Kiba, "Take Raichou on Akamaru's back, we're only a half day away from our destination, and you'll get there the fastest. Come find us when your done."

Kiba and Raichou nodded to each other, quickly gathering up their belongings.

"Shino, I need you to widen your search. We need a clue."

Shino had been packed and waiting, so bowing his head he communicated with his bugs, using the best and formulating search parties. Huge masses of bugs started emanating from his body and flew off in all directions.

Kurenai walked over to Raichou who was being helped onto Akamaru.

"I'm so sorry," she tried to say but was cut off by Raichou.

"Don't worry about me, just find that ray of sunshine."

Kurenai smiled softly and nodded to Kiba.

"Hold on tight, sir. Let's go Akamaru!" and with that shout, they sped off in a blur.

Kurenai turned back to Naruto and Shino who were awaiting orders.

"Tell me what happened Naruto." She asked him directly.

Naruto frowned, " I had just started my shift, when I saw a cloud of gas start to engulf me. I never even heard anything. It worked fast, I had no time to shout out. Next thing I knew, I woke up and told you. That's it." He looked up into her eyes, and she could tell he felt so guilty, but there wasn't anytime to alleviate his worries.

"My bugs have come back with a faint scent. North-west." Shino interrupted.

"Ok. We are going to follow the scent and find Hinata. But do not engage. We need to know why she's been taken first."

"But we need to save her!" Naruto raised his voice, agitated.

Kurenai held up her finger. "We don't need surprises, Naruto. Whoever took her, wants to use her, that's for certain. But I want to know what for so that we know what we're dealing with, all right?"

Naruto was quiet. Not one hundred percent into this plan, but Kurenai-sensei obviously knew better than he.

"Right. Let's go!" she said, as three blurs left the camp.

_**Well. Something has finally happened! Aren't you happy! Well let's find out what Hinata's up to in the next chapter!**_


	9. Chapter 9

It was dark. So dark she couldn't see anything. It smelt like rust, and dried blood. So much blood.

Her heart was racing. She had just woken up, and she knew she wasn't in the camp anymore. She had been taken somewhere. Why?

'Get a hold of yourself, Hinata!' she scolded herself. 'Now examine your surroundings'

"Byakugan!" she said softly, so as not to attract attention.

She could see bars, so she was in a cell. Outside…two men. There was a corridor, no, many corridors. All underground. She found a room with two men in it. That was as far as she could see.

She brought her vision back to the cell and looked around the small space. Nothing. Just three blank walls and a wall of bars. She saw that she had been tied up, lucky then that she was so flexible. She brought her feet up to her chest as close as she could, then slipped her arms under herself to the front of her, proceeding to untie her feet. With much maneuvering she was able to untie her wrists aswell.

Standing up she almost fell, still stiff from being tied up on the floor. She crept over to the bars and could make out two men down the hall with one small candle to light them. Walking back to the centre of her prison, she tried to think of how she would get out. It seemed impossible.

Why had she been taken? Was it because she was a Hyuuga? No, she would be dead by now. They would only want her eyes. She couldn't imagine why else anyone would want her.

A great heat started to bubble up inside. How dare they kidnap her! Why did her teammates let this happen? She only had herself to rely on. Now was the time to get herself out of this jam!

The anger she felt reached it's climax and Hinata felt a voice inside telling her to let it go.

With a great swipe of her arms and a flash of light, she let out two fine strikes of chakra at the bars of her cell. The bars fell to the ground with a great clatter, alerting the guards. They raced to the source of the noise but they weren't quick enough. Hinata struck them so fast, they never knew it was coming. She activated her Byakugan again. She needed to find those men, make them tell her why they took her. She was so angry, just waiting to unleash her fury on her captors. As she ran down the corridors, she wound her way towards the room she had seen before.

It was just round the corner, then she the light from the doorway. She let out a growl as she ran through the doorway.

"Stop Hinata." Said a voice.

Hinata stopped dead. It was like a switch had been flicked off inside her. The fury had dissipated into thin air.

"Are you calm now?" the voice asked.

Hinata felt herself speak, "Yes."

A shadow moved out from the darkness and stood before her.

"Now sit down, and I will tell you why you are here." Said the man before her.

She saw a chair at a table and started t walk over to it, as the man shut the door behind her.

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Naruto, Kurenai and Shino had been moving for an hour.

"My bugs tell me her trail is getting stronger, but she is still far away."

Naruto frowned. Her captors could be hurting Hinata, and he was the one responsible for her capture. If only he had noticed the gas earlier.

Kurenai looked over her shoulder at Naruto. She could see he was punishing himself for Hinata's capture.

"It'll be ok, Naruto. We'll get her back." She told him kindly.

Naruto looked up with a steely look in his eyes, more determined than ever.

"We will get her back, and whoever took her is going to pay!" he growled, eyes glinting red for a second.

Shino glanced at Naruto beside him, sure that he had felt a change in the boy, then scolded himself for not staying focused.

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Hinata stared at the man in front of her. She was wary of him, but she somehow felt she had to hear what he had to say.

"You have a great power inside of you, Hinata-san. And don't mean just your Byakugan."

Her breath caught in her throat, they were after her blood-line limit after-all.

The man in front of her could see that she had just thought this and chuckled quietly.

"Listen more carefully. I said there is another power inside of you."

A worried frown crossed Hinata's face. What on earth were they talking about.

"A power has emerged in you that is more powerful than any Shinobi in the land. You have the power to bring down a whole nation if wanted to. We can help you harness that power. That is, if you want to. I'll give you time to think about it. If you choose, we can make you more powerful than you could imagine. I await your answer."

Finishing his speech he rose from his seat across from Hinata and walked to the door, opening it and closing it behind him.

A part of Hinata was telling her to run, but a part was also confusing her, asking her to consider the offer.

She put her head onto her arms on the table.

What was she going to do?

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It was hazy, but warm and pleasant. Hinata realized she had fallen asleep.

Suddenly ahead of her appeared a figure.

Hinata's eyes grew wide and filled with tears, "Mother!"

She ran and hugged her mother, glad when arms embraced her, making her feel safe.

"Don't worry dear. Everything will be fine."

Hinata looked up into her mother's kind eyes, "But what should I do?"

"You could be so powerful my dear. You could more powerful than your father and Neji. Don't you want to be seen as worthy in their eyes?"

"Yes! More than anything!" Hinata cried.

"Then do it Hinata! Do it!" her mother exclaimed, a feverish look in her eyes.

She disappeared before Hinata's eyes, and then Hinata found herself awake.

Lifting her head up, she took a moment to gather her thoughts. With a determined look on her face, she stood up, knocking her chair over, and raced to open the door.

On the other side was waiting the mysterious man from her earlier conversation.

Without hesitation she told him, "I'll do it"

He smiled and took her by the arm down the corridor, "Wise answer my girl."

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"Stop." Shino said abruptly, stopping on a tree branch.

Naruto and Kurenai had stopped a little ahead and jumped back to Shino.

"Kiba is nearing our position. We should wait a minute."

Kurenai wiped her brow of sweat, "Good idea Shino. We should rest a few minutes aswell. We've been on the move for 3 hours straight."

"Kurenai-sensei! We need to keep moving, what about Hinata!" Naruto exclaimed in frustration.

Kurenai sat down and looked at Naruto with a firm stare, "If my calculations are correct then Hinata is not too far from here. Am I right Shino?"

Shino nodded, "My bugs tell me Hinata is about 20miles from here."

Naruto's faced brightned, "She's so close then, let's go get her!" He made a move to jump to the next branch, but was stopped but Kurenai's voice.

"Naruto! We need to formulate a plan, not go barging in like maniacs, so sit DOWN!"

He knew better than to disobey Kurenai so he begrudgingly sat down on a lone branch. Minutes later, Kiba and Akamaru arrived, out of breath but with boundless energy.

"It took an hour to get Raichou to his destination, but he's safely there so our mission is complete. Now what are we going to do about Hinata?" he asked Kurenai.

"Here's what we'll do." Started Kurenai, as they all leaned forward to listen.

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_**A bit short to finish here I know but it's a good place to end it I think. I'll get the next chap up soon I promise!**_


	10. Chapter 10

Four ninja were crouched on tree branches, keeping out of sight.

"Shino. How many?" Kurenai whispered.

"Seven in total. Three patrolling the area. Four are standing in a square formation. It's as if they are guarding an entrance." Shino relayed to Kurenai.

Kurenai frowned, there were too many to take on with no information about the situation.

"And she's definitely here?" she addressed this to Kiba.

Kiba sniffed the air once more before turning to look at Kurenai.

"Definitely. Here scent is so strong. Akamaru can smell it too. She's not far away."

Kurenai peered through the trees, seeing a man patrolling the edge of the forest. She had to formulate a plan, but it was going to be difficult. They were already outnumbered, and she still had no idea why the young kunoichi had been taken.

She could feel Naruto getting more and more agitated, and she knew she would have to stop him from doing anything rash.

"Wait!" Shino exclaimed suddenly. "They are moving underground. Something has happened. Someone is coming out!"

The four quietly jumped from tree to tree until they were near the forest edge. Indeed the guards had disappeared, but there was a hole in the ground with some steps leading down.

"Some new scents are getting closer!" Kiba whispered feverently.

They all poised themselves, ready to pounce, when suddenly Kiba gasped. He had smelt something, but before he could say what he had smelt, someone emerged from the ground.

It was Hinata.

They couldn't believe it. Had she escaped?

That wasn't the case it seemed, as four men emerged from the ground behind her. Three of them were huge, even bigger than Chouji.

Kurenai knew something was very wrong, they had to leave, but suddenly…

"Hinata!" cried Naruto, and then he was a blur, racing towards the girl in the clearing.

This was bad.

- 

Hinata was shocked to see the blond boy. But that shock quickly turned to annoyance.

"Hinata! Quick! Come!" the boy grabbed her wrist and tried to make her come with him.

Hinata felt anger bubble inside, and wrenched her wrist from his grip.

The force made Naruto stumble, and he looked back in bewilderment.

"No Naruto. Leave." Hinata said with controlled anger.

The three huge men lined up behind her, arms crossed.

Naruto couldn't understand why she wouldn't run, he could only squeeze out one word.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to." She stated.

Naruto faltered, before grabbing her wrist again. "Let's go Hinata!" he told her.

He didn't expect what came next. Kurenai knew. She had sensed a change when Hinata had first appeared. She whirled round to face Kiba and Shino and quickly shouted, "Retreat! NOW!"

They knew not to ask why and shot off, just before it happened.

Hinata used the arm Naruto was holding to grab his wrist and pull him towards her, and with one deft movement she slammed her palm into his chest, sending him hurtling into a tree trunk.

Naruto felt excruciating pain. She had hit his heart with precise chakra, using the force behind her arm to propel him towards the tree. The pain was almost unbearable, but he stood up and faced the girl before him.

"If you come at me again it will be worse. I don't need you anymore Naruto. I don't need the Leaf anymore. I'm better than you all. Now leave." Hinata snarled at him.

She united her forehead protector and threw it at Naruto's feet.

She then turned her back on him and walked away to the smaller man who took her by the shoulder and lead her away. The group jumped into the trees and were gone in a matter of seconds.

"HINATA!" screamed Naruto, making to run after her, but someone held him back. It was Kurenai. He struggled against her arms before falling to his knees.

Kurenai draped his arm across her shoulders and looked towards where Hinata had left, before turning around and leaving in the opposite direction.

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Kurenai found the rest of her team not to far away. As she landed on the ground she laid Naruto on the ground carefully. She knew that Hinata had used a fatal blow against the boy, but with the Kyuubi inside of him, she knew he would heal in a matter of hours. Shino and Kiba looked down at Naruto in disbelief.

"What happened?" asked Kiba.

"He was attacked. By Hinata." She said softly.

Kiba dropped his jaw in surprise but quickly shut it again. "Why?" he said quietly, really to himself.

"Something was really wrong. Hinata isn't the person we knew." She started before Shino cut in.

"I know. My bugs felt it. Hinata was one hundred percent there, but so was something else. There was something hiding behind her chakra."

"Why did he jump in there? He almost got himself killed!" Kiba shouted angrily.

Kurenai sighed. She thought the same thing, but she knew how hot-headed Naruto could be. He had done this type of thing before.

She turned to her two remaining team members.

"Set up camp. Naruto won't be awake till evening and we need to set out a plan. Get moving!"

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Hinata was following the men in front of her, but her mind wasn't totally focused on them.

What happened back there? She had never fought like that before. But it was as if she had reached boiling point inside and something told her she could just let it all out. Something inside her was trying to tell her that she had done an awful thing, but a louder voice was congratulating her on a fine victory.

She knew they would be back. But she would be better, faster, stronger than before.

A better Hinata.

So she turned her attention to following the men in front.

A tiny voice went unnoticed deep down inside her.

'Naruto. What about Naruto?'

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Night had fallen now and Naruto looked better, although he had yet to stir.

Kiba had cooked up some rice for their dinner and now he and Shino were talking quietly on the other side of the camp.

Kurenai sat down beside Naruto and put her hand to his forehead. No fever, good, then it was only a matter of time before he woke up.

She looked further down his body when something caught her eye. Something was hanging out of his pocket. She pulled at the material, and when the object fell out, she felt a tug at her heart.

It was Hinata's hitai ate. He must have lifted it when he fell to the ground. Kurenai folded it up and slipped it back into Naruto's pocket.

Looking back to his face she saw him stir.

Naruto opened his eyes and saw Kurenai smiling at him.

"It's good to see you awake."

Naruto nodded and sat up. He looked into Kurenai's eyes, "She really left didn't she."

Kurenai nodded.

Naruto sighed heavily and dropped his gaze.

But Kurenai put her hand on his shoulder. "But something is wrong with Hinata. She's not herself. We're going to get her back."

He looked up again, but this time with a new glint in his eye, "Yes."

Turning his gaze towards the night sky he made a pact with himself.

'I'll get her back no matter what.'

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_**Woah…… well I'm sure you didn't see that coming! So go ahead and review! You know you want to!**_


	11. Chapter 11

Hinata was sitting beside a warm fire, drinking some kind of vegetable soup. They had only stopped for dinner and then they would be moving on again.

She still had no idea where they were headed to, although the small guy had told her they would only be on the road for another couple of hours.

'I wonder if Naruto is alright?' she thought worriedly, before shaking her head. She shouldn't be thinking about her old friends anymore. They weren't good for her anymore, she needed to move on.

Taking another sip of her soup, she tried to think of other things, suppressing any sad thoughts about her former life.

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"I'll take the first shift."

They all turned to look at Naruto standing, looking down at them.

Without waiting for a reply, he made his way over to his mat and sat down, keeping an eye on the surroundings.

Kurenai looked away from him and bid the other two boys goodnight. Kiba and Shino nodded their heads in goodnight and made their way over to their respective mats.

Once they had settled down, she threw some dirt on their fire and walked over to her sleeping place, pausing at Naruto's mat.

She was hoping he would want to talk, as she could see he was still troubled. But Naruto just ignored Kurenai, pretending she wasn't there.

Kurenai sighed heavily, but went to bed. She wouldn't get anything out of him tonight.

Naruto could tell when everyone was fast asleep, and only then did he let his façade drop. Instead of the blank face, there were sad eyes and a furrowed brow.

This was awful. It was like Sasuke all over again. Was he going to lose Hinata as well?

"**Kit…"**

Naruto sighed, he really didn't want to speak to the fox, but he knew the fox would pester him till he gave in so he might as well get it over with.

'What?' Naruto asked snappily in his mind.

"**No need to be all angry at me kid." **The fox retorted.

"Fine. I'm sorry. Now can you leave me alone."?

"I know what you're thinking, you know. It isn't your fault she's gone…" 

"Baka fox. Of course it's my fault. She was kidnapped because I wasn't looking out properly." Naruto felt anger bubble up.

"Ugh, stupid kid. I'm telling you it wasn't your fault. Yeah you could have been doing your job a bit better, but there is something odd going on."

The anger dropped like a ton weight.

'What? What do you mean?'

"Oh you want to know do you? Well I don't really feel like telling anymore."

"BAKA!" he screamed at the fox, face red from anger.

"Fine. I'll tell you what I can. There is something odd about the girl. If you had paid attention you would see she's been changing gradually. I'd say since you met her at the lake."

'…'

"…"

'That's it? That's all you're telling me?'

"Yes."

'I…I…' Naruto stuttered in disbelief, before resigning himself. 'Fine. Baka fox probably doesn't know anything else.'

The boy promptly shut out the Kyuubi, not wanting to here from the fox again.

The Kyuubi sighed. **"That's all you need to know, boy. Work it out."**

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They had arrived.

At least this place was better than the last. A huge estate sprawled out in front of them, much similar to the Hyuuga compound.

As Hinata stepped through the gate, a strange feeling washed over her. It was as if there was another layer over her, but it disappeared as quick as it came. She had no time to think about it, as beautiful couple stood in front of her.

"Hello dear. We are here to help you." Smiled the young woman.

"Yes dear, come with us and we will make you a better person." The young man held out his hand and Hinata found herself taking it.

It didn't occur to her to ask who these people were, or why there was no one around.

She let herself be led into a bedroom, where the young man led her to sit on the bed. The young woman opened a closet and pulled out a beautiful midnight blue kimono, which she hung up on a stand. She walked over to Hinata and smiled kindly at her.

"Please rest a while then feel free to wash up. There are clothes for you to change into here. Excuse us."

They both bowed before exiting the room, closing the door behind them.

Laying her head down on the pillow, Hinata had never known tiredness like it.

As she drifted off, she could swear she heard malicious whispers, but she was soon deep in sleep.

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The next day she awoke from a dreamless sleep feeling much more awake.

Stepping out of bed, she walked over to a door she hadn't walked through before. Peeking her head in she found her guess had been correct. It was a private bathroom.

Unpeeling her clothes off, she left them folded on a chair beside the door. As she washed she felt like she was getting rid of all her impurities. Her team, her family, Konoha. She didn't belong to them anymore.

She dried herself with a huge, fluffy towel and walked back into the bedroom. The kimono was hanging up, waiting for her to put it on, and who was she to refuse.

Once she had it on, she could see how well it fit her. She saw a glint on the floor and stooped down to see what it was. It was her little fox brooch. Picking it up she pinned it onto her chest. She brought her hand up to her face. She looked really pretty. 'I wonder if he would think I'm pretty…" she thought.

No! She mustn't think like that anymore!

A knock came at the door. She slipped on some wooden sandals and went to the door. When she opened it she saw the young woman from before.

"Please come with me." She smiled and started walking down the corridor. Hinata followed behind and drank in her surroundings. The walls were full of pictures, people she didn't know, very important looking people.

When they stopped, the woman gestured for Hinata to walk into a room. Once inside she saw the small man from before. In the corner were two other men she didn't know and closing the door behind her were the young couple.

"Please sit down, Hinata." Spoke the small man. Hinata obliged, sitting in a comfy looking armchair.

"Now Hinata, you want to become better don't you?" he asked her.

She nodded slightly.

"And you will do anything for that?"

Hinata hesitated for a second before nodding her head again.

"That's good to hear. Now I want you to close your eyes for me and search deep inside yourself."

As she closed her eyes, the young couple held up the hands, palms facing Hinata. They closed their eyes, concentrating. A glow started to emanate from the silver brooch. The eyes shining brightly and the silver giving off heat.

The small man continued, "Can you hear someone calling you Hinata?"

Hinata could see a tunnel in her mind, at the other end she could hear a faint voice crying out to her.

"Yes! I can hear it!" she exclaimed.

He smiled maliciously, "Good. Reach out to it. Pull it to the surface!"

She reached out her arms and could feel someone coming down the tunnel. A blurry shadow appeared, slowly turning into an image.

"Mother!" she gasped in shock.

Her mother smiled kindly as she walked up to her.

Then she walked past.

"Mother?" she turned and tried to walk after her but found herself frozen.

Her mother kept walking down the tunnel towards the light.

Hinata reached her arms out towards her mother screaming out her name. But suddenly her breath was trapped in her throat.

The woman who was walking away had turned back to look at her with an evil smile on her face.

This woman was not Hinata's mother.

Hinata felt a pull around her middle and felt herself hurtling back down the tunnel, further and further away from the light.

"Mother…" she whispered.

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_**Well Hinata….oops on your part….well hoped you liked this thrilling installment! **_


	12. Chapter 12

Hinata felt so cold. Where was she?

Looking around she couldn't see anything. No walls, no floor, no ceiling. Why was she alone?

A pinprick of light appeared in front of her. She squinted her eyes, trying to make out what it was, but couldn't. She decided to walk over to it to see what it was, and as she approached the light got bigger and bigger.

It became so bright that she had to cover her eyes with her hands. When she felt she could remove them, she was stunned by what she saw.

She was standing in front of a huge window, and she could see outside. It was as if she was looking out of her own eyes.

Bringing her hands up to the glass she ran her fingers down it. It felt just like glass, so did that mean it acted just like glass.

She brought her fist back and aimed a heavy punch straight at the glass, but it didn't budge. So she tried a kick, but again it didn't break.

Sighing, she rested her forehead against the cool glass. Was she stuck in her?

"So is that you Akane?"

Hinata brought her head up quickly and saw the small man from before looking straight at her.

"You stupid man, can you not tell it's me?"

Her mouth dropped open in shock, that was her voice, but she wasn't saying those words. Who was?

"Thank god I'm free. I couldn't spend another minute with that child's thoughts. She's so goddamn meek that I had to repress all her cowardly feelings. But now I'm in control and that little girl can just stay inside her little mind."

Hinata staggered back from the window but tripped over her own feet, landing heavily on the non-existent ground.

No. No, she couldn't be stuck here. Please no.

But she started to remember all the horrible things she had said. This Akane woman had put words into her mouth, made her say things she would never even think in a million years.

A voice boomed in the atmosphere:

"You won't be leaving here, child. So get used to it, I'm done controlling your mind. Did you really think your mother was there to comfort you? Ha! Stupid girl. You see, I needed a suggestable subject who had exceptional physical capabilities and guess who matched the criteria!"

Hinata had been speechless but suddenly found her voice, "But how did you get inside my head?"

"You stupid child. I've been winding my way in through your chakra coils for a while now. Lets see if you can guess how? But for now I will bid you adieu!"

Hinata felt the presence leave and visably relaxed. But how did she get inside her? She thought hard about any abnormalities that had occurred during her time on the mission, but couldn't think of anything significant.

But then she remembered what had happened just before the mission. Her hands flung to her mouth, how could she have been so stupid? It was all so clear now.

It was the brooch.

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"But I don't see why we can't just go and get her now!" Naruto was gesturing angrily at Kurenai.

"Sit DOWN, Naruto. Juts let me organize a plan first." Kurenai was biting her tongue, trying not to explode.

"The more we sit and chat, the more danger Hinata is in." Naruto complained again.

Kurenai knew that Naruto was worried, but he really was too hot-headed for her liking.

But before she could say anything, Kiba got up so suddenly he startled Akamaru who was sat beside him.

"She doesn't WANT to come back, Naruto. Why force her?" he shouted.

Naruto face changed in an instant and he crossed the distance between them in record speed. He grabbed Kiba by the collar and slammed him up against a tree trunk.

"Because Konoha is her home! I don't believe she made this decision herself. It's just not like her. So I'll force her to come home, because I know that deep down, she wants to."

Kiba was speechless. Kurenai was about to move to break up the pair, when Naruto dumped Kiba on the ground.

He turned to walk towards his supplies, when he turned his head to look at Kiba.

"I will not lose another one of my precious people."

He turned back and continued on.

Kiba was pale but picked himself up and tidied away his things.

Shino looked to Kurenai, who made eye contact with him. They knew they were both thinking the same thing. Naruto was right, they'd force Hinata to come home, because the believed that was were she belonged.

They were all packed in a matter of minutes, and soon three boys and one dogwere stood in front of Kurenai, awaiting instructions.

"Right. We will follow Hinata's trail, and once we get there, we need to try and get her out quietly. But I want you all to be prepared for battle." She addressed them. They nodded solemnly and Shino sent his bugs to work. Kiba and Akamaru soon had a scent picked out and they were on their way.

Naruto thought to himself from his place at the back of the formation, he had never even thought he would miss her so much when she was gone. He felt awful for putting her in danger, but the only thing he wanted now was to have Hinata back, safe.

'I'm coming Hinata, just wait.'

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Hinata was sitting in front of the window, arms wrapped round her knees with her head on her arms.

She lifted her head, noticing something. She had felt comforted for a moment, but she brushed it off.

Out of the window she could still see what was happening through her eyes. Akane was now looking through a fine weapons array, one to rival even Tenten's.

"Have you chosen your weapons, Akane?" asked the small man.

"Yes I have now. I've seen finer weaponry, but this will be satisfactory for the moment." She lifted up some more kunai and hid them in the waistband of her kimono.

The small man smiled greasily at Akane, rubbing his hands together.

"I don't suppose we can talk about our arrangement n…"

"Not Now!" she interrupted abruptly, holding up her hand.

"I'm busy right now." She went back to sorting through the weapons.

The small man sweated profusely and backed up towards the door, apologizing before shutting it behind him.

Akane smirked to herself, tucking some senbons into the folds of her clothes.

"Be patient…patient." She reminded herself.

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_**OOOooo….I can actually see an end in sight! Have fun reading!**_


	13. Chapter 13

Akane patted down her kimono in front of the mirror, admiring how svelte the young girls body was. It was a pleasure to have a body and looks that would lure many men.

'**Why are you doing this?**'

Ugh, the little girl was talking. 'I wish she would just shut up.'

'**Why?**' she asked again.

"Ugh!!! FINE! Hinata is your name, isn't it?"

'**Yes…**' Hinata replied carefully.

"Well Hinata, I wanted a body that would be strong enough to do my bidding."

'**I know that, but what are you going to use my body for?**' she enquired cautiously, she didn't want to set off the extremely volatile woman.

Akane laughed almost hysterically, " Wouldn't you like to know!"

'**I would actually. If I'm going to be stuck in here forever, then I'd like to at least know what's going on.**' Hinata put on her best acting performance, trying to sound like she felt defeated already. But of course that wasn't the case. She wasn't going to give up. Ever. She would persevere till the very end.

She could feel Akane searching her mind for a weakness that would tell if the girl was lying. Hinata cleared her mind, holding on as long as she could.

"Well, I suppose you have a point, girl. Alright, I'll tell you."

"I've been around for thousands of years. I used to roam this land in a time long forgotten. But then you annoying, interfering humans got in my way. Sure, I stamped out communities, but more and more of you came. I kept a low profile, until 100 years ago today, I couldn't take it anymore. You all need to die, so I started cleansing the land. And cleanse I did. It was beautiful! The earth and water were all stained red with your blood!"

"But I came up against someone very strong. If I didn't hate you humans, I might possibly have been impressed. It was she who sealed me away, then she hid me from prying eyes. But it didn't work for long. The people here knew all about me and tried to free me. But they failed, instead they had to confine me to a brooch."

Hinata had figured it out already. That the brooch had been a connection between the two of them. She just had to figure out a way to sever the connection. But that was impossible at the moment.

"Well, I'm afraid we will have to end our little chat now. I have important things to be getting on with." Akane walked to the door and opened it.

The little man from earlier had just been about to knock on the door, he looked up startled.

"Oh! I was just, uh, just about to come get you. If we could now discuss our agreement." He smiled and rubbed his hands together.

Akane brushed her hand through her hair and sighed.

"I won't be doing anything for you." She pushed past him and walked down the corridor.

"But, but….!" Spluttered the man, hands outstretched to her, he grabbed onto her kimono, stopping her.

She slowly turned round and her eyes burnt with a ruby red. She fixed her stare on the man, who froze on the spot in fear.

"You could have just let me go in peace. Now, you PAY!" she screamed the last word as she raised her arms.

Hinata knew something awful was going to happen, but she could do nothing. She couldn't even close her eyes.

Using Hinata's very precise skill and her unfathomable power, Akane released one fine chakra strike across the man's abdomen. Hinata covered her mouth in shock.

The man's eyes were wide in fear and immense pain. He let out a strangled cry before his eyes glazed and he fell to the floor, blood pouring out of the open wound on his stomach.

Tears fell down Hinata's face in rivers. She couldn't believe what she had just seen.

Voices shouted down the hallway. They had just seen what Akane had done and were coming to attack.

She placed one hand to her head in exasperation.

"You could have been spared, but it is too late now." She raised her ruby red eyes, burning with even more intensity.

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The team had arrived at their destination. Kiba was sure this was it. Hinata's scent was here and there were no other houses for miles.

Naruto was struggling to stay calm. Every nerve inside him was telling him to go rushing in, to save the day. He knew the only reason he wasn't doing this was because Kurenai had a death grip on his shoulder, and he knew she wasn't going to be letting go soon.

"Shino, send your best bugs in to scout the place out."

Shino nodded, and raised his arms. A few larger bugs flew at speed out of his sleeves towards the residence. He looked toward Kurenai.

"I sent in my seeing eye bugs. I will see whatever they find."

"Good." Kurenai answered simply.

Turning to look at Kiba she opened her mouth to speak, but the words caught in her throat.

Kiba was bent double and Akamaru was in visible distress.

Kurenai found her voice, "What is it? What's wrong?"

Kiba was struggling to breath but managed to squeeze out a few words.

"Blood…Smell it…Everywhere! Just…need…used to it." He started to breath more calmly, the pained look disappearing from his eyes.

"I'm fine now, but my tracking ability is no use now. There's just so much blood in the air. It smells like a massacre."

Kurenai's brow furrowed slightly, she too could sense that a mass slaughter had just taken place. But she knew Hinata was still alive. She could just tell.

Shino drew a sudden breath, his mouth dropping slightly, before he clutched the side of his head, hissing in pain.

Naruto moved out of Kurenai's grip and put a hand on Shino's shoulder. "Shino…" he quietly asked.

"My bugs. They saw something horrible. Then they were all eliminated. All of them. Kiba was right, there is blood everywhere. We must move quickly." He looked earnestly into Kurenai's eyes.

Kurenai knew the situation was dire so she had formulated a plan.

"Naruto and eye will sneak up to the gates and take out any guards we see. I need you two to stay in the clearing here, I'm going to try and draw out whatever is in there. We need it to be in an open space to attack effectively. Don't take unnecessary risks. Come on Naruto."

She moved swiftly along the tree line and made her way towards the gate, Naruto close behind her.

Halfway there, a body was flung out of the gate with tremendous force. What was let of a body anyway, it was just a torso, but what was most disturbing was that the skin had been torn clean off.

Kurenai flung her arm out to warn Naruto to stay back. They took out their kunai and froze on the spot, listening.

The birds had stopped singing and nothing was stirring in the bushes. It was deathly quiet.

Then footsteps came, light but deliberate steps, slowly advancing towards them. Naruto tensed, ready to fight.

But he faltered when the owner of the footsteps came out of the gate and stopped.

It was Hinata. She was covered in blood. Her hands, her kimono, even her face was patterned with blood spatters.

She turned her eyes to Naruto and Kurenai, her face blank.

Kurenai didn't act in time. She should have known this would happen.

Naruto streaked past her and ran towards Hinata, almost reaching her, when she broke into a manic smile, eyes burning a ruby red.

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Wah! Almost at the end. Bet you can tell the big fight scene is coming up. Gonna try and get it up in the next few days. Work is getting busier! Enjoy!


	14. Chapter 14

Hinata's teeth gleamed from her manic smile. Naruto faltered slightly, giving her the chance to attack.

She was so fast that he didn't see her till it was too late. She was in front of him and moved her hand as if to swat him away.

But the force was incredible. It felt like he was being hit in the chest by a steam train, the force causing him to barrel through a tree trunk.

Kurenai instantly set up a genjutsu around the girl.

But she just laughed.

"Stupid woman, you should know that this doesn't work on demons!" she laughed shrilly, tossing her head back.

'Demon?' thought Kurenai.

"Who are you?" she asked carefully.

Hinata sighed "I suppose you deserve to know who kills you. My name is Akane."

"Where is Hinata?"

"HA! She's trapped. Never to be released." Akane laughed, tapping her head with her finger.

On the outside, Kurenai's expression didn't change, but inside she was shocked. Hinata's body had been taken over, and by a demon no less. The situation had just gone from bad to worse. The only skills she had left to use were her taijutsu skills.

She raced forward, aiming to land a kick to the demon. But Akane just grinned manically and raised her arms, slicing them downwards swiftly.

Kurenai fell to the ground in horrible pain. The demon had become familiar with Hinata's skills and was using them to her advantage. She had used fine chakra strikes to sever the muscles in both her shoulders, down to the bone. Kurenai could no longer move her arms, losing the ability to make jutsu's and to fight.

Kiba and Akamaru jumped down from the tree they were hiding from and charged forward.

Akane turned her attention to them, looking mildly amused. She waved her arm in front of her from left to right. Kiba let out a strangled cry and fell to the ground. She had just shut off any nerve receptors in his arms and legs, effectively rendering him paralysed. The dog had suffered the same attack and was lying beside his master.

A figure dropped down from another tree and stood facing Akane, arms outstretched.

"Oo-oh! A bug user! I haven't met one of you in a very long time." She exclaimed.

Shino frowned slightly, he knew more was coming.

"And I have just the technique for you. Enjoy it." She pushed her palm forward towards him and released a faint sound.

To a normal human, it would have been mildly irritating, but Shino was different. He dropped to the ground clutching his head and started screaming in a way that was inhuman. Bugs were flying out of him at terrifying speeds, all trying to escape, but dropping dead around him.

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Hinata was looking out at her friends, horrified at what this demon had done. She shook her head gently, this was all her fault. Her poor friends were in great pain and she was responsible.

"No…no" she repeated softly. She placed her hands against the window, dropping her head in defeat.

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'This was too easy." Akane thought, smiling at the bug-user writhing in pain. Now was the time to finish them off. She brought her hands above her head, ready to attack.

"No you don't." rasped a voice.

She looked over at the owner of the voice.

Naruto.

He was in an awful state. Blood was drying around the corners of his mouth and she could tell he had many broken ribs. With the force she had used on him he shouldn't be moving, let alone standing and walking.

"A demon then?" he asked her.

She smiled again, "Yes, boy. 100 demon."

It was Naruto's turn to smile, "Wrong."

Akane dropped her smile and glared. "What did you say?" she simmered.

"I said your wrong. You may have taken over Hinata's body, and you may have trapped her mind. But you have no control over her soul."

Deep inside Akane's prison, Hinata raised her head to look outside.

"She's still in there. I know she is. You will never have control over her. Hinata is stronger than you." He raised his voice even louder.

"You hear that, Hinata? You're stronger than her!" He screamed, eyes burning even brighter.

Hinata felt as if someone had just injected her with adrenalin, feeling a found energy. She pounded her fists on the window over and over.

"NARUTO!" she screamed, squeezing her eyes shut, pounding the window even harder.

Naruto saw a change in Akane's face. Like she was battling for control.

"NARUTO!" she screamed again, and with one final blow, the window shattered and Hinata felt herself connect briefly. She was looking out of her own eyes! Straight ahead of her was Naruto and he saw a remarkable change in her face.

But Hinata felt herself being pulled back under, but she wouldn't let that demon remove her before she had had a chance to speak.

"NARUTO!" she screamed, "THE BROOCH!"

It had been Hinata! He was sure of it. What did she mean? He searched the girl's body and saw what she had mentioned.

It finally all clicked into place. The brooch. The connection. He had to destroy it.

Akane tried to let go of Hinata, but Hinata held on. She needed to distract the demon, if only for a few precious moments.

Naruto saw his chance and ran for it.

He raised his hands and created a huge rasengan, pushing forward towards the girl. Towards the brooch.

Akane saw it too late, she could do nothing, Hinata was seeing to that.

Her final vision was of Naruto's screaming face.

The rasengan came to connect to the Silver brooch, releasing a brilliant white light.

Hinata finally let Akane go and felt herself falling. She closed her eyes, finally smiling.

But Naruto pushed forwards, still screaming. He saw the brooch through the light, the ruby eyes glowing once more, before a huge crack appeared and the brooch fell to the ground.

The light dimmed and Naruto fell to his knees, panting. He was dripping with sweat and blood, so exhausted.

'Hinata!' he thought franticly. He lifted his eyes and saw he lying a few yards in front of him, the brooch a few metres from her body.

He scrambled towards her and searched her for signs of life.

"Hinata!" he pleaded. Her chest was still, her limbs unmoving.

No, she couldn't be dead. He reached his fingers to her face, but paused before he touched it. She was smiling. A faint smile, but a smile nonetheless.

'No…'

He reached forward and touched her cheek ever so lightly.

"Hinata…" he whispered.

Her eyes shot open and she drew in a long, rasping gasp.

Naruto retracted his hand in shock. He couldn't react, he was stunned.

Hinata felt like she had lost her body for good, she was floating away from herself. But she had heard Naruto's voice and suddenly she was being pulled and she felt herself being connected again.

Her eyes were trying to focus, and they came to rest on a familiar blonde head.

"Naruto?" she whispered softly.

Naruto jolted out of his trance and dropped forward, bringing Hinata into his arms in a tight embrace.

Hinata was too exhausted to be shocked and just let herself enjoy the warmth of Naruto's body hugging hers.

She felt something wet on her shoulder and realized that Naruto was crying.

He raised his head and looked at her. He was smiling, and the tears were flowing freely from his eyes.

"Naruto…" Hinata started to inquire.

"I didn't lose you. I didn't lose you, Hinata!" he exclaimed, smiling broadly with a deep warmth.

Hinata smiled gently. "Thank you, Naruto."

She closed her eyes, she wanted to remember this moment forever.

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_**Phew….**_


	15. Chapter 15

Before she opened her eyes, Hinata could smell the faint musty smell of sweat and dried blood. Opening her eyes slowly, they struggled to focus for a moment. Once she could see properly, she could see a ceiling with a light bulb.

'So I'm inside then.' She pondered to herself.

She tilted her head to the side and saw Naruto sitting in a chair by the bed and looking at her with a welcoming smile on his face.

"Hello."

Hinata blinked. She really hadn't expected him to just say hello. Where was the hyperactive ninja from before.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked her gently.

She nodded, "Where am I?"

"An inn. Kiba and Akamaru are with Kurenai at the hospital, and Shino has gone out to get us some food. He should be back soon,"

Hinata nodded slightly and turned her gaze back to the ceiling.

Naruto watched her brow wrinkle into frown.

"I'm sorry." Hinata whispered, a single tear falling down the side of her head to wet the pillow.

"Why Hinata?" he enquired gently.

"It was my fault all those people died. It was my fault that my team got hurt."

Naruto reached out and clutched the side of the bed, "Of course it wasn't your fault Hinata! How can you say that!"

" I'm weak. I let that demon take over my body and she hurt people that are very dear to me." She turned her head away from Naruto, ashamed at herself.

Naruto's mouth hung open for a second before he blew up.

"For god's sake Hinata! That demon thought you were far from weak, and it totally underestimated you! You were able to break her hold on you! I wouldn't call that weak Hinata, I'd call that freakin' amazing!" He tossed his hands in the air for emphasis.

Hinata swung her head back round to look at Naruto with a stunned look on her face. There was a moment of silence, before they both realized that Naruto's arms were still in the air.

Hinata started to giggle, which set off Naruto, and before long they were both laughing so hard that Naruto fell on the ground.

After the laughter died down, Hinata wiped a laughter tear from her eye.

"Thank you, Naruto. I needed that."

Naruto gave her one of his trademark grins, "No worries! That's what I'm here for!"

She smiled again, always amazed at how happy he was.

He suddenly opened his eyes in surprise, and got up off the floor. He walked over to his jacket, which was draped over a chair.

Hinata looked puzzled as she watched him rummage in his pockets.

"A-ha!" he exclaimed. He turned round and hit whatever was in his hands behind his back. Walking back to the chair beside the bed he sat down.

Hinata was confused and was about to open her mouth to speak, when Naruto beat her to it.

"I kept something for you." He smiled sheepishly, before bring his hands forward.

He placed something in Hinata's hand and her eyes widened in surprise. It was her forehead protector. She looked at his face questioningly.

"I always knew you'd come back. Thought you might need it."

Hinata smiled broadly and went to put it round her neck, but gasped in pain when she tried to reach round.

"Oh watch yourself. You need a bit more rest before you're fighting fit. Here, let me…"

He took the forehead protector from her hands and reached round her neck to fasten it behind.

He sat down again, "Much better!" he grinned.

Hinata smiled again, a thought floating through her mind briefly, 'You're getting a lot better. You didn't even faint when he touched your neck.'

Her smile faltered, 'Oh my god! He TOUCHED me!' she realized, everything fading to black as she fainted like always.

'Hm, must have gone back to sleep.' Naruto thought.

Well it was better that she get her rest. He leant back in his chair, hands crossed behind his head.

"I wonder how Shino's doing with the shopping?" he wondered aloud.

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In the middle of a busy market, there stood a young man.

People gave the young man strange looks as they walked past. For he looked scary in his hooded jacket and dark sunglasses, but he was holding a full basket of fish and vegetables and as he walked along the streets he had a very unusual skip to his step.

However, if they could have seen his face underneath the hood, they would have seen him grinning broadly.

For what they didn't know was…

… Shino loved to cook!

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Well that's the end. But I'm thinking of writing another story, continuing on in this plot line. Let me know what you think. I thought I would end up doing more chapters than this but oh well! Certainly longer than I've writing before. Even longer than my dissertation….anyway….hope you enjoyed it and let me know if you want anymore!

_**Bye for now!**_


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